The Singularity University will begin its activity later this summer, when 30 top graduate and postgraduate students will be given the chance to extend their knowledge in 10 different fields, which include: future studies and forecasting; networks and computing systems; biotechnology and bioinformatics; nanotechnology; medicine; neuroscience and human enhancement; AI, robotics, and cognitive computing; energy and ecological systems; space and physical sciences; policy, law and ethics; and finance and entrepreneurship.

 

Ray Kurzweil, who is an inventor and futurist, best known for his speech recognition technology, the Reading Machine and his ideas on technological singularity, is one of the co-founders of the university. The idea that he supports, according to which half-a-century from now technology will become so advanced that machines might be able to exceed human intelligence, is reflected in the points of interest of this university.

 

We are now in the steep part of the exponential trajectory of information technologies in a broad variety of fields, including health, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence, Kurzweil said. It is only these accelerating technologies that have a scale to address the major challenges of humanity ranging from energy and the environment, to disease and poverty.

 

X PRIZE Foundation chairman Peter Diamandis, also a co-founder of the Singularity University, is one of the most dedicated and active supporters of human spaceflight, best known for his $10 million prize for privately developed spaceflights.

 

He also said in a statement: We are reaching out across the globe to gather the smartest and most passionate future leaders and arm them with the tools and network they need to wrestle with the grand challenges of our day.

 

The Singularity University will be hosted by NASA’s Research Park, and will open up its gates for a limited number of attendees. The University offers three programs: the Graduate Studies Program, which lasts for 9 weeks - between June 27 and August 29 - and is limited to a number of 30 graduate and postgraduate students; the Executive Program for mid-level managers/leaders, which starts in the fall of 2009 and will be limited to 40 people; and the Executive Program for C-level executives, which also starts this fall and is limited to 20 people. For the last two, the frequency will be of approximately 8 times per year.

 

Vint Cerf, Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist at Google, said in a statement: Ray Kurzweil and Peter Diamandis have pulled together an extraordinary group of leaders across a broad spectrum of discipline. The challenges facing our planet are profound. Creating a network of future world leaders across the range of exponentially growing technologies address by Singularity University will have profound implications. We need the best hearts and minds working together toward a common cause.