The Institute for Venture Science (IVS) will fund high-risk, non-traditional scientific inquiries that may produce fundamental breakthroughs. We identify the most promising challenges to prevailing paradigms. We then simultaneously fund multiple research groups worldwide for each selected challenge.

 

An unconventional idea pursued by a dozen laboratories cannot be ignored. This means that challenge paradigms can compete on equal footing with prevailing paradigms. The superior one should prevail. This strategy of producing a critical mass for promising ideas can produce fresh, diverse understandings of the world in which we live.

 

Gaining fresh understanding may seem an outright luxury in today’s culture of practicality. However, human existence faces unprecedented threats: dwindling energy resources; diminishing supplies of potable water; increasing incidence of chronic disease; etc. Practical solutions have always come from scientific breakthroughs: e.g., the antibiotic addressed the problem of bacterial disease; the discovery of electricity solved the problem of worldwide communication. More than ever, the world needs revolutionary breakthroughs to break the logjam of existential crises that threaten our survival.

 

By fostering breakthroughs, the IVS will enrich the world with fresh vision, and help create viable solutions for today’s seemingly intractable problems.