Postdoctoral fellows
Funded postdoctoral positions for researchers in mathematical physics, quantum foundations, philosophy of physics, and the science of consciousness.
Join
Work with us.
The Institute is recruiting researchers across mathematics, physics, philosophy of science, and the study of consciousness. The work is rigorous, the program is open, and the problems are concrete.
Roles
Visiting researchers
Sabbatical and short-term residencies for established researchers whose work intersects the Institute's program.
Collaborators
Formal research collaborations with individual scientists, labs, and institutions across mathematics, physics, biology, and cognitive science.
Graduate affiliates
A graduate-affiliate program is in development. Outstanding doctoral candidates working in adjacent areas are invited to be in touch.
Active research directions
Concrete problems, openly stated.
The Institute's program decomposes into specific, formal problems. The following are active directions where new researchers can contribute immediately.
01 / 06
Trace Logic, formal development.
Extending the mathematics of Markovian dynamics on networks of interacting conscious agents. Algebraic structure, geometry, and the formal apparatus needed to make the conjectures rigorous.
02 / 06
Recovery of quantum mechanics.
Formal derivation of quantum mechanical structure as a limiting case of conscious-agent network dynamics. Connections to existing reconstructions of quantum theory from informational and operational principles.
03 / 06
Recovery of general relativity.
How spacetime curvature and the metric structure of physics emerge from large-scale features of agent dynamics.
04 / 06
The measurement problem.
What "observation" means in a formalism where the observer is fundamental, and how this reframes longstanding puzzles in the foundations of quantum mechanics.
05 / 06
Computation and simulation.
Numerical exploration of conscious-agent networks at scale. Simulation tools, agent-based models, and computational tests of derivations as they are produced.
06 / 06
Philosophy of physics.
Ontology of observer-first frameworks. Relationship to existing programs in foundations of physics, philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of science.
How to apply
One email is enough.
Write to us with a short description of your background, your current research, and which of the active directions interests you most. A CV or representative paper is helpful but not required to start the conversation.
research@traceinstitute.org