SETI Institute Call for White Papers

The SETI Institute is soliciting the US and international scientific community for input to advance the search for intelligent life in the universe, and for the creation of a multidisciplinary Virtual Institute for SETI Research.

Scientific discoveries and technological advances are opening new paths to explore the nature of intelligent life in the universe. Vast datasets and new analytical tools that did not exist even a decade ago are now being used in astronomy and astrophysics, as well as astrobiology, and the biological, geological, environmental, cognitive, mathematical, social, and computational sciences, among other disciplines.

If synergistically analyzed in a multidisciplinary approach, these datasets and tools have the potential to support an integrated new vision and framework for the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Together, these can inform our future searches of who, what, and where advanced alien life could be, how it might communicate, and how it could be detected. In light of these new advances, the time is right to develop a roadmap and a research program based on a long-term vision for SETI endeavors. The principles associated with this new vision of SETI research have been outlined in an article published in the August 2016 edition of Astrobiology.

Building upon this paper, the SETI Institute is now soliciting community input for the development of a roadmap and a research program based on a long-term vision for SETI activities. Ultimately, the goal is the creation of a Virtual Institute for SETI Research. Its mandate will be to understand how intelligent life interacts with its environment and communicates.

The goals and objectives of this call, and its significance, are detailed in the a separate document, available on the SETI Institute website.

This is an opportunity to contribute to shaping a new and exciting chapter in the history of SETI. We encourage you to respond to this call, and to distribute it to interested colleagues.

Contacts:
Nathalie A. Cabrol
Director, Carl Sagan Center, SETI Institute
[email protected]

Bill Diamond
President and CEO, SETI Institute
[email protected]