A CALL TO THE WORLD’S EXCEPTIONAL SCIENTISTS
For scientists who can turn an audacious question into an experiment the world can trust.
We are seeking the caliber of the top 1%: original thinkers, exacting experimentalists and builders whose work stands up to independent scrutiny.
Founding-team expressions of interest · 20 disciplines · Global search
For selected founding appointments, subject to secured funding and a signed agreement. Bonus terms, eligibility and independent acceptance criteria must be agreed before work begins. Read the full proposed terms ↗
THE WORK BEFORE THE BREAKTHROUGH
Our first task is a credible optical-momentum benchmark. Every reflected photon, thermal transient, lever arm and calibration matters. Alpha 1 remains a hypothesis to challenge; Metric Flight has no demonstrated propulsion result.
20 DISCIPLINES / ONE EVIDENCE CHAIN
These are capability profiles for a proposed team, not 20 funded vacancies. One exceptional scientist may span several disciplines. Founding priorities come first; materials and flight work follow the evidence.
20 disciplines
Own the chain from a physical question to a measurement another laboratory can reproduce. Lead the first optical-momentum benchmark and decide when the apparatus is ready for a hypothesis test.
Scope, evidence & first assignment →Resolve nanonewton-scale forces without mistaking sensitivity for accuracy. Own traceability from angular readout through torque calibration and lever-arm geometry to reported force.
Scope, evidence & first assignment →Close the optical momentum account. Quantify incident, reflected, transmitted and scattered power, including angular distributions and power that misses the intended surface.
Scope, evidence & first assignment →Make illumination stable, measurable and safe. Build the beam-delivery and switching architecture that lets the balance measure physics rather than changes in the optical train.
Scope, evidence & first assignment →Make every reported result auditable. Own the measurement equation, uncertainty budget, dependence structure and decision rule from planning through publication.
Scope, evidence & first assignment →Predict and measure heat-driven false signals before they become a discovery claim. Separate radiation pressure from expansion, radiometric effects and temperature-dependent readout drift.
Scope, evidence & first assignment →Determine whether residual gas can account for a small force. Design the pressure environment around the actual artifact budget and owned laboratory infrastructure.
Scope, evidence & first assignment →Turn the measurement concept into an apparatus that can be assembled, aligned, rebuilt and trusted. Own mechanical symmetry, lever arms and dimensional stability.
Scope, evidence & first assignment →Resolve angular motion while understanding what the readout itself adds. Develop the displacement or angle measurement and its calibration across the full operating range.
Scope, evidence & first assignment →Control the environment without hiding the experiment. Separate floor motion, tilt, actuator forces and feedback artifacts from the physical signal of interest.
Scope, evidence & first assignment →Make the electrical chain quiet, traceable and incapable of impersonating a force. Own grounding, readout electronics, timing and electromagnetic compatibility.
Scope, evidence & first assignment →Design inference that survives drift, autocorrelation and researcher choice. Set sample size and stopping rules from pilot evidence rather than attractive plots.
Scope, evidence & first assignment →Make every result rebuildable from raw observations. Own acquisition provenance, data integrity, analysis environments and independent computational checks.
Scope, evidence & first assignment →Make the momentum bookkeeping explicit. Derive predictions for realistic illumination, scattering and supports before an apparent residual is assigned new physics.
Scope, evidence & first assignment →Connect optical, thermal and mechanical predictions without allowing a simulation to become evidence by itself. Quantify numerical and parameter uncertainty separately.
Scope, evidence & first assignment →Separate boundary-force physics from electrostatic, contamination and geometric artifacts. Define the conditions under which a surface-force measurement would be interpretable.
Scope, evidence & first assignment →Connect material properties to measurable device behavior. Decide when graphene is useful and when a conventional coating or substrate is the better experimental choice.
Scope, evidence & first assignment →Translate a justified optical design into repeatable structures. Tie fabrication tolerances to scattering and momentum predictions instead of optimizing appearance alone.
Scope, evidence & first assignment →Keep the whole program testable. Translate the scientific objective into requirements, interfaces, qualification evidence and stop decisions before complexity grows.
Scope, evidence & first assignment →Assess whether a verified laboratory effect could ever become a useful mission capability. Own full-system power, mass, heat and momentum accounting before flight ambitions.
Scope, evidence & first assignment →YOUR STRONGEST RESULT IS THE INTRODUCTION
Choose one piece of work. Explain your contribution, the measurement that mattered and the evidence that could have proved you wrong. Institution names and citation counts cannot substitute for that conversation.