About the FEST program
“Fully Empirical Science and Technology” or “FEST” is a new research program aiming to bridge the gap between matter and mind. Inspired by the success of science in understanding matter, this program extends the same empirical methodology to study the mind. This requires developing new tools, partly inspired by philosophical and contemplative traditions of the past.
This website was established in October 2025, to mark the first transition of the FEST Program. Between February 2024 and October 2025, the main FEST product had been the Substack FEST Log, written by Piet Hut to produce a first version of a foundation for the whole program. While he will continue writing his Log, he is now in the process of forming a FEST community.
Acknowledgments: Jonah Ginsburg and Ignacio Ercole have been instrumental in setting up the original presentation of the FEST Log in various stages, while Ignacio has designed the FEST website. We gratefully acknowledge two grants from the Hershey Family Foundation toward the writing of the FEST Log during the last two years.
About the founder
Piet Hut
Professor emeritus
Institute for Advanced Study
Princeton, NJ
Piet Hut earned a double PhD in particle physics and astrophysics at the University of Amsterdam. Four years later, in 1985 at age 32, he was appointed full professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. In addition, for the period 2002 to 2023, he was the Head of the Program of Interdisciplinary Studies. In 2023 he retired at the mandatory age of 70 for IAS faculty, where he is currently an active professor emeritus.
For more information, cf. his IAS web page and IAS scholars page, and his Google Scholar page.
In 2004, Asteroid 17031 Piethut was named after him for a leading role in establishing the B612 foundation.
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