The Kavli Foundation

The Kavli Institutes

To date, the Kavli Foundation has established fifteen research institutes at leading academic centers worldwide.  These are:

Astrophysics/Theoretical Physics
•    The Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at Peking University in China;
•    The Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology;
•    The Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago;
•    The Kavli Institute for Cosmology at the University of Cambridge;
•    The Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology at Stanford University;
•    The Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara;
•    The Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics China at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing.

Nanoscience
•    The Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science;
•    The Kavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology at Harvard University;
•    The Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands;
•    The Kavli Nanoscience Institute at the California Institute of Technology.

Neuroscience
•    The Kavli Institute for Neuroscience at Yale University;
•    The Kavli Institute for Brain Science at Columbia University;
•    The Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind at the University of California, San Diego;
•    The Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

The Kavli Professors

Endowed Professorships have been established at the following universities:
Fred Kavli Chair in Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) Technology at the University of California, Santa Barbara held by Professor Noel MacDonald.
Fred Kavli Chair in Optoelectronics and Sensors at the University of California, Santa Barbara held by Professor Larry Coldren.
Fred Kavli Chair in Earth System Science at the University of California, Irvine held by Professor Michael J. Prather.
Fred Kavli Chair in Nanosystems Science at the University of California, Los Angeles held by Professor J. Fraser Stoddart.
Fred Kavli Chair in Brain Science at Columbia University, held by Eric Kandel.
Fred Kavli Professor of Theoretical Physics at the California Institute of Technology, held by Hirosi Ooguri.

The Kavli Frontiers of Science

Jointly sponsored by the US National Academy of Sciences and the Kavli Foundation, the Kavli Frontiers of Science bring together some the very best young scientists to discuss exciting advances and opportunities in their fields in a format that encourages informal collective as well as one-on-one discussions among participants.  These are highly interdisciplinary conferences emphasizing communication of a wide range of contemporary science topics across the traditional disciplines.
The symposia, which are both national and international in scope, enable emerging young scientific leaders to become acquainted with their counterparts in a broad range of disciplines, and to stimulate long-term relationships with their peers.  The participants become acquainted with their colleagues in other nations, and in this way build an international network of scientific communication and cooperation.  The symposia also serve to inform these young scientists about the challenges and opportunities being addressed at the frontiers of other scientific disciplines; and to broaden their perspectives on the scientific enterprise as a whole.

The symposia are of two kinds: those that involve US participants only, and those that are attended by young scientists from the US and from other countries.  These bilateral symposia are organized jointly by the US National Academy of Sciences and national academies from other nations.

Held each November at the Academy’s Beckman Center in Irvine, California, the Kavli Frontiers of Science is attended by approximately 80 to 100 scholars under 45 years of age. Participants include leading researchers from academic, industrial, and federal laboratories in such disciplines as astronomy, astrophysics, atmospheric science, biology, biomedicine, chemistry, computer science, earth sciences, genetics, material sciences, mathematical sciences, neurosciences, pharmacology, and physics.

At each symposium, approximately 25 young scientists report on current research within their disciplines to an academically trained and scientifically diverse audience. They highlight major research challenges, methodologies, and limitations to progress at the frontiers of their respective fields. All attendees participate actively in a general discussion period, during which they learn from and form collaborative relationships with other young scientists in different fields.

The Kavli Futures Symposia

The Kavli Foundation sponsors a series of high quality scientific symposia on topics of emerging importance in the fields of astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience. These unique conferences focus on the trends, challenges and opportunities for future research.  Relatively small in size, they feature an informal format with a strong emphasis on discussion.  The topics, sites and programs of each symposium are identified by the Kavli Institutes.  By emphasizing a forward looking perspective, the Kavli Futures Symposia provide a forum for discussion of the key issues facing future developments and directions in specific fields, and thereby help to define and guide the development of the research in these fields.

The management of the Kavli Futures Symposia – including the appointment of program committees, invitation of participants and the execution of the conferences – is the responsibility of the Kavli Institutes.  However, participation is not limited to members of Kavli Institutes and includes a wide range of leading scientists worldwide.

At the conclusion of each Kavli Futures Symposium, a description of the key discussions, findings and recommendations of each Symposium are published and made available over the websites of the Kavli Institutes and The Kavli Foundation. The first Kavli Futures Symposium was co-hosted by the Kavli Institute for Nanoscience at Delft University of Technology and Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science, and held in Greenland in June 2007.