The 2007 Winner of the Grant for Research, Dr. Peter Bancel About the Eileen Coly Grant for Research About the 2007 Eileen Coly Grant for Research Dr. Peter Bancel was awarded the 2007 Coly Grant for Research. Currently residing in Paris, Dr. Bancel grew up outside of New York City in Rye, NY. Despite an early and sustained interest in the theater, he found himself unexpectedly drawn to science as he prepared for his university studies. “I found a copy of Scientific American at a friend’s house when I was fifteen. Fascinated, I got myself a subscription as soon as I was could. It completely flipped things around for me to see that science isn’t about what we know, but a way to look into things that we don’t understand at all. I liked that game and I wanted in.” Bancel received a Bachelor’s degree in physics from Bowdoin College and then worked for a year at Argonne National Laboratory, studying the transition to superconductivity in two-dimensional systems. He received a doctorate in physics from the University of Pennsylvania, supported in part by an IBM fellowshop. Dr. Bancel’s thesis work focused on the use of x-ray and neutron scattering techniques to study the unusual symmetries in quasicrystalline systems (quasicrystals have atomic structure with the “impossible” symmetries of Penrose Tilings). After a post-doctoral appointment at IBM Watson Research Center, Bancel moved to France to the Centre d’Etudes de Chimie Métallurgique outside of Paris. Later he held a post at the Institut des Matériaux de Nantes were he developed laser seeding techniques for protein crystal growth using “optical tweezers.” Dr. Bancel became interested in parapsychology and psi research initially through a visit to Princeton, New Jersey where he meet Dr. Roger Nelson, the director of the Global Consciousness Project. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Bancel became involved in data analysis for the project. He has worked on the analyses full-time since then and is the Chief Analyst for the GCP. The Eileen Coly Grant for Research will fund part of the long-term program of data analysis for the GCP. The project hypothesizes that at the time of major world events, subtle deviations in random systems will correlate with the corresponding collective behavior in the affected populations. The substantial GCP database has, to date, yielded evidence at the 5-sigma level in favor of the general hypothesis. Dr. Bancel’s recent efforts have focused on understanding the considerable structural correlations present in the data. Structure relating to spatial, temporal and other factors has been found in several independent measures. It is hoped that these will form the basis of a working model, allowing for the assessment of theoretical foundations and the testing of refined hypotheses. The specific aim of the research funded by the Coly Grant for Research is to study more closely the preliminary indications of temporal structure in the data correlations. The research undertaken by Dr. Bancel will apply notions of scaling in dynamical systems and time series analysis. In particular, he will employ the scaling index methods of Detrended Fluctuation Analysis to access indications of temporal fluctuations on the time scale of hours, which is thought to be particularly relevant to collective events of global significance. About the Eileen Coly Grant for Research The Parapsychology Foundation’s Eileen Coly Grant for Research program considers proposals for original research. The Eileen Coly Grant for Research of $5,000 is awarded annually. Conceived in the name of Parapsychology Foundation’s second and current President on the occasion of her 90th birthday, the Eileen Coly Grant for Research recognizes Mrs. Coly’s life-long dedication to research in the science of parapsychology. The grant is available for universities, laboratories, scientists, scholars, clinicians, and individuals. Proposals will be considered for experimental research, field investigations, questionnaire or survey research, bibliographic or historical research, discourse or other textual research, and/or for clinical or medical case studies or clinical trials. Individuals who have received PF scholarships, awards or research grants in the past are eligible to apply. There is no limitation on the academic discipline on which the research may be based. However, applicants must state clearly in the proposal both the relevance of their particular approach to the proposed research and the potential of their project to further the goals of scientific parapsychology. Interdisciplinary or multi-disciplinary approaches are encouraged. Applicants should submit a cover letter introducing the grant proposal that makes a case for its importance to parapsychology, a brief research proposal of no more than 2000 words (not including references) with a clear description of methodology and procedure, a time-frame through to completion, and a budget not to exceed $5,000. Curriculum vitae should be supplied for the primary investigator(s) and resumes for staff or assistants. The deadline for application is August 15th of every year. The successful applicant(s) will be notified on or around September 1st of each year. Grantees will be expected to provide the Foundation with a research report and a full accounting of expenditures upon completion of the project which may be summarized or published on the Foundation’s websites and archived in the Foundation’s manuscript collection. *********** For more information about the history of the Eileen Coly Grant for Research click here. For more information about previous recipients of the Eileen Coly Grant for Research click here.

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