Encourage and support rigorous, innovative, and influential thinking about foundational questions in physics and cosmology;

Identify and reward top thinkers in foundational questions; and,

Provide an arena for discussion and exchange of ideas regarding foundational questions.

Relevant: Essays should be topical and foundational.

• Topical: Each essay contest will focus on a particular theme, question, or subject that the submitted work must directly address. For the current contest, this is “The Nature of Time,” including, but not limited to, the arrow of time; the emergence of time in quantum gravity; time, free will and determinism; time travel; the beginning or ending of time; and timelessness. Additionally, to be consonant with FQXi’s scope and goals, essays should be primarily concerned with physics (mainly quantum physics, high energy ‘fundamental’ physics, and gravity), cosmology (mainly of the early universe), or closely related fields (such as astrophysics, astrobiology, biophysics, mathematics, complexity and emergence, and philosophy of physics), insofar as they bear directly on questions in physics or cosmology.

• Foundational: This contest is limited to works addressing, in one of its many facets, our understanding of the deep or “ultimate” nature of reality. For example, a discussion of new technical methods for measuring precise time intervals is topical, but probably not foundational.

Interesting: Each reader has their own view of what constitutes an interesting essay. However, most would agree that an interesting essay is:

• Original and Creative: Foremost, the intellectual content of the essay must push forward understanding of the topic in a fresh way or with new perspective. While the essay may or may not constitute original research, if the core ideas are largely contained in published works, those works should be the author’s. At the same time, the entry should differ substantially from any previously published piece by the author.

• Technically correct and rigorously argued, to the degree of a published work of research or grant proposal.

• Well and clearly written, so that it is comprehensible and enjoyable to read.

• Accessible to a diverse, highly-educated but non-specialist audience. (Aim somewhere between the level of Scientific American and a review article in Science or Nature.)

ENTRY:

• Submission: Essays and accompanying material must be submitted online using the webform, between the dates of Aug 4, 2008 and December 1, 2008. Applicants will provide contact information, an abstract, a brief biographical statement, and their Essay. Immediately after an Essay Application is submitted, the applicant will receive a confirmation email containing this information at their specified email address. However, the Essay will not be published immediately; it will be reviewed for rule compliance first (see "Publication" below).

• Format and length: Essays must be submitted as PDF documents. The length must exceed neither 5000 words of text, nor 10 pages, including figures and references. Color figures as well as hyperlinks within the document are acceptable. Although FQXi will accept works from anyone anywhere, the essay must be submitted in English.

• Publication: After submission and review for rule compliance, each essay will be posted in the FQXi Community Forum, under the category ‘Essay Contest: The Nature of Time’, here. Additionally, each Author name and bio will also be published there. Thereafter, the author and interested readers (including FQXi Members, other contest Entrants, and the general public) are invited to discuss and comment on the essay.

JUDGING:

• Expert Judges: A jury of the applicants' peers, chosen by FQXi, will judge all submissions. (That is, the judges will together have a pool of expertise roughly echoing the types of applicants received.) This panel will award “Juried Prizes” following deliberation. These panelists are free to read or ignore the online discussion and voting in making their rankings, and will judge based on the criteria specified under 'Evaluation Criteria' in this document.

• Restricted Voting: Every FQXi Member and approved essay contest Entrant will be provided with a code allowing one vote for up to three essays (maximum of one vote per essay per Entrant; Entrants may not vote for their own essay). Votes from these Restricted Voters will be accepted until January 1, 2009. A running total of Restricted Votes for each essay will be displayed until December 24, 2008.

• Public Voting: Members of the public will also be allowed to vote on essays. Votes from the public will be accepted until the contest concludes on January 1, 2009. A running total of Public Votes for each essay will be displayed until the close of the contest.

• Community Prizes: The top recipients of Restricted Votes will be awarded “Community Prizes.” Prizes will not be awarded directly on the basis of Public Votes, but it is anticipated that Public Voting may influence either Restricted Voting or Expert Judging.

PRIZES:

• In addition to the cash prizes listed below, all First, Second, and Third Prize Winners will be invited to FQXi Membership, if the applicant is not already a Member.

• First Juried Prize: US$10,000

• Second Juried Prize (up to two): US$5000 each

• Third Juried Prize (up to five): US$2000 each

• Fourth Juried Prize (up to ten): US$1000 each



• First Community Prize: US$5000

• Second Community Prize (up to two): US$2500 each

• In the case that an essay is selected to win both a Juried and a Community Prize, only the higher Prize will be awarded.

TECHNICALITIES:

• Essays complying with the rules will be automatically posted on the FQXi Community Forum website together with authors’ names; after Prizes are awarded, contest Winners will be highlighted as such. FQXi reserves no copyrights to the submitted work; however, the contest entry shall constitute both permission by the author that submitted material may be so posted, and warrantee that the posted material infringes upon no copyrighted material. FQXi reserves the right to use essay submissions in its promotional or other internal materials.

• All Prizes are subject to United States Income Tax. Winners are required to furnish FQXi with appropriate tax forms for reporting the Prize, and applicable taxes may be withheld from the Prize.

• FQXi reserves the right to refuse to award any Prize if doing so violates any applicable laws.

• Judges, FQXi personnel and FQXi subcontractors, and members of families of same, are ineligible to win Prizes.