IAS Fellowship

Duham Unversity Institute of Advanced Study Fellowship gathers together the world’s finest scholars and non-academics (such as intellectuals, artists, writers, journalists, policy makers, and politicians) from the full spectrum of science, social science, arts and humanities disciplines to address themes of global significance.

Overview

The Institute of Advanced Study (IAS) provides its fellows with a setting that offers them freedom to think in an unconstrained way, exempt from the day to day demands of their normal professional obligations, and in the company of other thinkers from very different backgrounds. The IAS seeks to develop a truly global perspective by ensuring that its fellows are recruited from all over the world, including the global south. The IAS instigated a range of activities focused on advancing reflexive understandings of interdisciplinarity.

The IAS fellowship provided Dr. Perumalla with the opportunity to develop own research and ideas in a thriving community of intellectuals of national and international standing, within the Institute, through the College system, and by forging strong links with at least one department at Durham.

For the duration of his stay, Dr. Perumalla was provided with a single occupancy office in Cosin’s Hall, the home of the Institute of Advanced Study. The Hall, a magnificent listed building dedicated to the IAS and elegantly refurbished, is situated on a World Heritage site that includes Durham Cathedral and Durham Castle. In addition, all fellows were welcomed into a college community where they were offered half board accommodation (in a one bedroom flat), and membership of the college’s Senior Common Room. The IAS covered the costs associated with travel to Durham, UK from ORNL and provided an honorarium.

All Fellows

Dr. Perumalla’s Cohort

Organization

• Sponsor: Duham University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Gallery

Related Publications

Normalcy, Magic, Miracle and Error: Emergence along a Reversibility Spectrum

Formation of a butterfly from a pupa, extraction of a live dove from a magician’s empty hat, generation of new particles from high-energy particle collisions and spawning a new dream world from mind in sleep are all examples of a common, fuzzy notion called ‘emergence’. In this paper, I pin the concept of emergence to the element of surprise in a phenomenon. I categorise the various notions of emergence into three main classes. These definitions are used to explain instances of emergence, organised along a continuous spectrum as normality, magic, miracle and error.

Kalyan Perumalla

PDF Cite

On the Definability of Art

There are many key concepts that, even while being part of everyday life, elude definition. One such is “Art.” Here, possible ways are identified to define Art, along with a description of a few factors that underlie the challenge in arriving at a definition. Additionally, a candidate definition from a scientist’s viewpoint is proposed for an abstract, encompassing model.

Kalyan Perumalla, Richard Read

PDF