Founded in 2004, the Origins Institute (OI) is an interdisciplinary scientific organization based in Hamilton, Ontario at McMaster University. The OI's aim is to promote research into several related themes that hope to solve fundamental questions about the origins of the universe, life, and humanity. Professional members of the institute hail from several fields, including astrophysics, biology, chemistry, psychology, mathematics and anthropology. Ralph Pudritz, an established theoretical astrophysicist from McMaster, spearheaded the OI project and is its first director. Well-known academics Martin Rees and Stuart Kauffman sit on the OI advisory council. Jump to: navigation, search 2004(MMIV) is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search Motto: Together Aspire - Together Achieve Area: 1,117. ... Jump to: navigation, search McMaster University is a medium-sized research-intensive university located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, with an enrollment of 16,771 full-time and 3,599 part-time students (as of 2004). ... Jump to: navigation, search The deepest visible-light image of the cosmos. ... Jump to: navigation, search Life is a multi-faceted concept. ... Human beings are defined variously in biological, spiritual, and cultural terms, or in combinations thereof. ... Spiral Galaxy ESO 269-57 Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of the universe, including the physical properties (luminosity, density, temperature and chemical composition) of astronomical objects such as stars, galaxies, and the interstellar medium, as well as their interactions. ... Main articles: Life All organisms (viruses not included) consist of cells, which in turn, are based on a common carbon-based biochemistry. ... Chemistry (in Greek: χημεία) is the science of matter that deals with the composition, structure, and properties of substances and with the transformations that they undergo. ... Jump to: navigation, search Psychology (Classical Greek: psyche = soul or mind, logos = study of) is an academic and applied field involving the study of behavior, mind and thought and the neurological bases of behavior. ... Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School of Mathematics Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Mathematics Look up Mathematics on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikimedia Commons has more media related to: Mathematics Bogomolny, Alexander: Interactive Mathematics Miscellany and Puzzles. ... Anthropology (from the Greek word άνθρωπος, human) consists of the study of humankind (see genus Homo). ... Jump to: navigation, search Ralph E. Pudritz is a theoretial astrophysicist tenured at McMaster University in Hamilton,_OntarioHamilton]], Ontario, Canada. ... Sir Martin John Rees, FRS (born 23 June 1942) is a professor of astronomy. ... Stuart Alan Kauffman (born September 28, 1939), originally trained as a physician, is a biologist and complex systems researcher, and is most widely known for his promotion of self-organization as a factor that is at least as important as Darwinian natural selection in producing the complexity of biological systems...

Outreach and Conferences

One of the focuses of the Origins Institute is public outreach, and to that end it promotes an annual season of public lectures that draw in top scientists from around the world. The OI also holds yearly scientific conferences that address origins themes. Its first meeting, entitled 'Astrobiology and the Origins of Life' was held at McMaster in May 2005.

List of Directors

2004 - Present Ralph Pudritz Jump to: navigation, search Ralph E. Pudritz is a theoretial astrophysicist tenured at McMaster University in Hamilton,_OntarioHamilton]], Ontario, Canada. ...