BICS, Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies
BICS was founded in June 2020 by aerospace entrepreneur Robert T. Bigelow (above) to support research into both the survival of human consciousness after physical death and, based on data from such studies, the nature of the afterlife.
Essay Awards of 1.5 Million
A purpose of the BICS essay awards is to raise the public awareness for the Survival of Human Consciousness topic and to stimulate research. One goal of the essay contest is to award contestants for writing papers that summarize the best evidence available for the survival of human consciousness after permanent bodily death. As of November 1, 2021 all BICS essay contest winners, runners up and honorable mentions have been informed that they have won prizes totaling 1.5 million US dollars. BICS will publish all 29 essays on the BICS website in late November, 2021.
In a separate publication venture, BICS intends to publish the essays in a set of 5-6 volumes comprising all 29 winning essays. The intent is to make available this group of 29 essays to as large a group of people as possible.
BICS Purpose
One purpose of the BICS is to raise awareness among the public and within the scientific community of the importance and relevance of investigating the survival of human consciousness beyond death. BICS hopes to provide a public service by drawing increasing attention to, and encouraging research into, this fundamental and timeless topic. We are seeking hard evidence “beyond a reasonable doubt” that takes us beyond religion or philosophy and provides a body of knowledge to be brought widely into the public arena that could be partially unifying in its impact on human awareness and culture.
More on Essay Competition
Another BICS intention is to provide a public service by:
1.Creating and implementing the essay contest.
2. Publishing responsible information to the widest audience possible.
3. Providing essays focused on scientific evidence as well as objective and subjective supported documentation as gathered–
- From special cases, including older cases, from very credible witnesses
- From photographic or electronic data
- From all available literature
- From highly validated and authenticated human experiences
- From other relevant sources
BICS: History & Structure & Perspective
Robert Bigelow is the founder of Bigelow Aerospace. For decades he has also supported serious investigations into consciousness and manifestations of unusual phenomena that are not yet understood by science.
Despite intriguing evidence, the number of research groups and funding devoted to investigating the survival of human consciousness beyond death is shockingly small in the Western world. Even though all 7.8 billion humans on planet Earth will eventually die, very little high quality research is being conducted on perhaps the most important and fundamental question facing our species.
There are very few significant conferences or symposia on this question which could appeal to scientists, academics and others with advanced training. This is partly because such research is not taken seriously by the current “scientific” paradigm. This current “scientific” group was seriously shaken by the 2017 New York Times article concerning UFO’s. It is probably time to end this close-minded approach. We at BICS believe that one way to do so is to appeal to qualified professionals who have some power to create change.
BICS has assembled a competent board of directors with deep experience in the topic to provide advice on the strategic direction and priorities of the Institute.
The board of directors are:
- Robert T. Bigelow, BICS Founder
- Christopher C. Green M.D., Ph.D, Physician in Private and Governmental Forensic Neurology
- Leslie Kean, Journalist and Author
- Colm A Kelleher Ph.D, Molecular Biologist and Anomalies Researcher
- Jeffrey J Kripal Ph.D, Rice University Professor of Philosophy and Religious Thought
- Harold Puthoff Ph.D, Theoretical Physicist
- Jessica Utts Ph.D, Professor Emerita of Statistics UC Irvine
- Brian Weiss M.D, Chairman Emeritus of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami
The information above was assembled from the BICS website. It describes their initiative in their own words. See https://www.bigelowinstitute.org/about.php and https://www.bigelowinstitute.org/News4.php for original publication. See more history of Bigelow at https://www.bigelowinstitute.org/News3.php
Integrative Mental Health for You, IMHU.org, enthusiastically supports validation of survival of consciousness after death. This is a cornerstone belief in Spiritism. See our course on Spiritist Therapies for more information.