{"links":{"self":"http://dataportal.arc.gov.au/NCGP/API/grants/FT250100128"},"data":{"type":"grant-details","id":"FT250100128","attributes":{"code":"FT250100128","administering-organisation":"The University of Melbourne","announcement-administering-organisation":"The University of Melbourne","scheme-name":"ARC Future Fellowships","grant-status":"Active","funding-commencement-year":2025,"years-funded":4,"project-start-date":"2026-03-01","anticipated-end-date":"2030-02-28","grant-summary":"New Causal Foundations for Space and Time. The project aims to solve a philosophical problem arising from physics. Recent developments suggest space and time don’t exist at certain scales. This poses a serious conceptual challenge: scientific experiments usually happen in space and time and so when these are missing we have no idea what experimentation means. Drawing on methods from philosophy, the project will explore causation as a replacement for space and time in our conceptual framework for science. The expected outcome is a seed-bank of models that philosophers and scientists can use to study nature. Anticipated benefits include generating new knowledge in philosophy, strengthening international collaboration and enhancing interdisciplinary research capacity in Australia.","funding-current":1265828.00,"funding-at-announcement":1238320,"investigators-current":[{"title":"Prof","firstName":"Samuel","familyName":"Baron","roleName":"Future Fellowship","roleCode":"FT","isFellowship":true,"orcidIdentifier":"0009-0007-4188-8359 "}],"investigators-at-announcement":[{"title":"Prof","firstName":"Samuel","familyName":"Baron","roleName":"Future Fellowship","roleCode":"FT","isFellowship":true,"orcidIdentifier":"0009-0007-4188-8359 "}],"organisations-current":[{"organisationName":"The University of Melbourne","roleName":"Administering Organisation","state":"VIC"}],"organisations-at-announcement":[{"organisationName":"The University of Melbourne","roleName":"Administering Organisation","state":"VIC"}],"field-of-research":[{"isPrimary":false,"code":"500204","name":"History and Philosophy of Science","type":"FOR20"},{"isPrimary":true,"code":"5003","name":"Philosophy","type":"FOR20"},{"isPrimary":false,"code":"500309","name":"Metaphysics","type":"FOR20"}],"socio-economic-objective":[{"code":"280119","name":"Expanding Knowledge In Philosophy and Religious Studies","type":"SEO20"}],"international-collaboration":["England","India","Switzerland","United States of America"],"lief-register":[],"achievement-summary":null,"national-interest-test-statement":"Despite a century of work, and a worldwide investment of billions, we still don’t know how gravity works at quantum scales. New experimental data is needed. However, this data must be gathered at scales where space and time don’t exist. That’s a problem: we currently have no way to make sense of experiments without fixed notions of space or time. This project aims to solve this problem by using philosophical theories of causation---theories of how one thing brings about another---to develop a new framework for science that captures a world without space or time. This framework will support scientists to make new progress in quantum gravity, which has the potential for long-term benefits in developing quantum technologies, anticipated to add $6.1 billion to Australia’s GDP by 2045 (National Quantum Strategy, 2023). Addressing this important problem will bolster Australia’s profile in philosophy of science, ensuring that Australian universities attract the best students to pursue cutting-edge research that will contribute to the economy and to Australia’s intellectual capacity. Popular science articles, media articles and broadcasting will make the research widely available for future use beyond the academy and provide cultural benefit by giving Australians a better understanding of how science works."}}}