Summer Research Institute

SRI 2023, titled “Trauma, Resilience, and Flourishing” will be held at the Garrison Institute in NY, from June 4-10, 2023. Applications are now open and will close on Feb 6!

The Mind & Life Summer Research Institute (SRI), now in its 20th year, is a weeklong immersive program. Unlike traditional academic conferences, the program provides opportunities for deep dialogue across disciplines as well as inquiry through first-person reflection and contemplative practice. It moves away from hierarchies of knowledge to foster an integrative, richer, and fuller understanding of the mind and society, focusing on current issues and positive actions that lead to real-world outcomes.

Learn about SRI 2023

Participants refer to SRI as a “unique place,” where it’s possible to “participate without feeling judged, and where every opinion is held and considered.” Many speak to the event as a “life changing experience,” where they feel supported by like-minded peers in a nurturing environment and where lifelong connections, collaborations, and friendships are formed.

Through a process of inquiry and dialogue, the SRI is designed to foster collaborative inquiry that encourages inclusivity and targeted action among diverse participants who have a stake or deep interest in individual, societal, and planetary flourishing.

The program incorporates plenary lectures, panel discussions, breakout groups, spaces for relationship building, poster presentations, networking opportunities, and daily contemplative time (meditation, yoga, QiGong, walking in nature, contemplative arts, and silent periods including two half-day retreat periods). Also featured are intentional spaces where participants come together in a safe space to discuss and find support around topics related to specific research interests and/or identities.

With engaging faculty, and a rich and varied format, SRI sparks not only new ideas and collaborations, it fosters intellectual humility, a professional commitment to research aimed at a higher good, and a personal commitment to reflection and inquiry. Participants who attend the SRI as Emerging Researchers become eligible to apply for the Mind & Life Francisco J. Varela Research Grants. Emerging changemaker participants will be eligible for our new Contemplative Changemaking Grants. Other participants may be eligible for other Mind & Life grants.

Mind & Life’s Summer Research Institute is made possible in part by the Hershey Family Foundation, which has provided generous program support since SRI’s inception in 2004.

The goals of the Mind & Life Summer Research Institute are:

To spark new research ideas and interdisciplinary collaborations that explore the mind from an integrative perspective (including first-, second-, and third-person approaches); examine the effects of contemplative practices on mind, behavior, brain, and health; and translate this wisdom into action on behalf of the greater good.
To create a space for dialogue that a) embodies a contemplative orientation, b) fosters deep relationship building among a diverse array of participants, and c) creates a safe and welcoming environment for meaningful connections and group cohesiveness.
To foster a new generation of nascent scientists and scholars (undergraduates, graduate students, and postdocs), contemplative practitioners, and changemakers interested in innovative and interdisciplinary collaborative research and action to address contemporary challenges.
To catalyze the fields of contemplative research and contemplative action (e.g., through exploring how contextual factors shape the mind, how contemplative practices engender effects on brain, mind, and behavior; and how these effects can support both individual and societal flourishing).
To train participants in emerging methods and best practices, examine future opportunities and challenges within contemplative science, and explore their application to improving social institutions and policies.

Mind & Life is committed to exploring and facilitating in depth and honest discussion
around issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion during the SRI. We know that these are hard topics and encourage the community to use skills honed during our contemplative practices to engage in this critical work together.

Upcoming Summer Research Institutes

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