OUR VISION
BQI seeks to enhance Australian society through education, outreach and cutting edge academic research
With an internationally recognised advisory board of eminent scientists and business leaders, BQI is committed to collaborating with the world’s brightest minds and thought leaders across various scientific disciplines, to think differently about the Big Questions of Science.
Roger Bacon (1292)
“To ask the proper question is
half of knowing”
Are constants constant?
What is dark energy and dark matter?
Can quantum physics and relativity be unified? Is the Universe infinite?
What is life?
How did life begin?
Is there life on Mars?
Are we alone in the universe?
What is consciousness?
Is a scientific theory of consciousness plausible?
Will machines become conscious?
PROJECTS BQI HAS PREVIOUSLY
FUNDED INCLUDE
Life on Mars (World Science Festival, Brisbane) 2024
Gene editing with Jennifer Doudan (Sydney Opera House) 2024
The STEAM Room: Science Comedy with Dr Karl (Enmore Theatre) 2023
Life on Mars (Perth Convention Centre) 2019
Ben Franklin Address (US Embassy) 2019
Women on Mars (Sydney Opera House) 2017
John Barrow (UNSW Sydney) 2016
Publications
BQI researchers submit peer reviewed research in their own right, and also as part of its Fellowship program.
BQI authored papers include:
- The Great Filter hypothesis – a new Great Filter? (2026)
- Searching for new physics using high precision absorption spectroscopy; continuum placement uncertainties and the fine structure constant in strong gravity (2025)
- Searching for new physics using high precision absorption spectroscopy; continuum placement uncertainties and Δα/α towards the quasar PHL957 (2024)
- Measuring the fine structure constant on white dwarf surfaces; uncertainties from continuum placement variations (2022)
- Do the constants of nature couple to strong gravitational fields? (2014)
BQI funded papers include:
- Photonic Quantum-Accelerated Machine Learning (2025)
- Optomechanical dark matter instrument for direct detection (2024)
- AMIGO: a Data-Driven Calibration of the JWST Interferometer (2025)
- Image reconstruction with the JWST Interferometer (2025)
- Validation of the ESPRESSO Wavelength Calibration Using Iodine Absorption Cell Spectra (2025)
- Modelling Cosmic Radiation Events in the Tree-ring Radiocarbon Record (2022)