Modeling the physical
foundations of awareness
The Center for Sentience Research (CSR) is an independent non-profit based in Switzerland. We bridge physics, neuroscience, and philosophy to understand how sentience arises across all substrates.
Focus Areas
Researching the map of experience
Biological Intelligence
Investigating morphological intelligence, cellular decision-making, and awareness in non-neural systems like plants and fungi.
Learn More →Digital Minds
Developing metrics for digital sentience through Assembly Theory and evaluating governance frameworks for emergent AI.
Learn More →Physics of Qualia
Formalizing the geometry of experience, neural entropy, and the symmetry theory of valence as rigorous physical invariants.
Learn More →Featured Output
First Principles of
Sentience Research
Our foundational research paper (CSR-WP-01) proposes a substrate-neutral science of the map, modeling awareness as a functional physical invariant.
Substrate Neutrality
We investigate sentience as a fundamental physical property that can emerge in biological cells, neural networks, or exotic physical states.
Quantitative Modeling
Our work moves beyond metaphors, utilizing high-dimensional data analysis and computational physics to build predictive maps of awareness.
Moral Expansion
Understanding sentience is the prerequisite for expanding our moral circle. We research the ethical implications of future minds and non-human awareness.
Support the future of awareness research
We are seeking partnerships with visionaries, philanthropists, and research institutions to accelerate our modeling efforts. Together, we can build the first rigorous science of the mind.
Learn about our funding requirements →