The Leinweber Foundation has awarded five US institutions $90m to create their own theoretical research institutes. The investment, which the foundation says is the largest ever for theoretical physics research, will be used to fund graduate students and postdocs at each institute as well as several Leinweber Physics Fellows.
The Leinweber Foundation was founded in 2015 by the software entrepreneur Larry Leinweber. In 1982 Leinweber founded the software company New World Systems Corporation, which provided software to the emergency services. In 2015 he sold the company to Tyler Technologies for $670m.
Based in Michigan, Leinweber Foundation supports research, education and community endeavours where it has provided Leinweber Software Scholarships to undergraduates at Michigan’s universities.
A Leinweber Institute for Theoretical Physics (LITP) will now be created at the universities of California, Berkeley, Chicago and Michigan as well as at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and at Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), where the institute will instead be named the Leinweber Forum for Theoretical and Quantum Physics.
The MIT LIPT, initially led by Washington Taylor before physicist Tracy Slatyer takes over later this year, will receive $20m from the foundation and will provide support for six postdocs, six graduate students as well as visitors, seminars and “other scholarly activities”.
“This landmark endowment from the Leinweber Foundation will enable us to support the best graduate students and postdoctoral researchers to develop their own independent research programmes and to connect with other researchers in the Leinweber Institute network,” says Taylor.
Spearing innovation
UC Berkeley, meanwhile, will receive $14.4m from the foundation in which the existing Berkeley Center for Theoretical Physics (BITP) will be renamed LITP at Berkeley and led by physicist Yasunori Nomura.
The money will be used for four postdoc positions to join the existing 15 at the BITP as well as to support graduate students and visitors. “This is transformative,” notes Nomura. “The gift will really have a huge impact on a wide range of research at Berkeley, including particle physics, quantum gravity, quantum information, condensed matter physics and cosmology.” US philanthropic organizations spend over $30bn a year on science
Chicago will receive $18.4m where the existing Kadanoff Center for Theoretical Physics will be merged into a new LITP at the University of Chicago and led by physicist Dam Thanh Son.
The remaining $37.2m will be split between the Leinweber Forum for Theoretical and Quantum Physics at the IAS and at Michigan, in which the existing Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics will expand and become an institute.
“Theoretical physics may seem abstract to many, but it is the tip of the spear for innovation. It fuels our understanding of how the world works and opens the door to new technologies that can shape society for generations,” says Leinweber in a statement. “As someone who has had a lifelong fascination with theoretical physics, I hope this investment not only strengthens U.S. leadership in basic science, but also inspires curiosity, creativity, and groundbreaking discoveries for generations to come.”
