As members of the Alliance since 2019, The Brinson Foundation engaged in a multi-year learning process—supported by personalized advising from former President Marc Kastner, current President France Córdova, and Senior Director of Philanthropic Advising Elizabeth Weiss—to identify a bold, strategic opportunity that could significantly accelerate scientific discovery in astrophysics and cosmology.
The result was a $100 million gift to Caltech to launch the Brinson Exploration Hub, an innovative research platform that brings together scientists and engineers from Caltech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which Caltech manages for NASA, with the aim of accelerating scientific discovery. This new hub is designed to test groundbreaking ideas in astrophysics, space exploration, and related technologies by bridging academia, industry, and government. It will serve as a launchpad for interdisciplinary teams to move promising concepts swiftly from ideation to implementation.
The Alliance played a key role in shaping this philanthropic investment—helping the Foundation articulate its goals, assess potential models, and ultimately structure a gift that not only supports high-risk, high-reward research, but also creates unique opportunities for students and early-career scientists. The Brinson Exploration Hub’s first three projects were announced in early 2025. They were selected for their potential to drive scientific discovery in remote regions of the Earth and cosmos, and provide societal benefit.
The Brinson Exploration Hub will support a wide range of projects aimed at deepening our understanding of the universe, which has been of interest to the Foundation since its inception a quarter century ago. As Founder Gary Brinson said, “Not all projects supported by the Brinson Exploration Hub will succeed, but they will all inform. Good science is about taking calculated risks. It is often projects that involve pioneering new technologies or novel approaches that lead to unanticipated discoveries.”
The Science Philanthropy Alliance is proud to have served as a trusted advisor on this journey, helping to bring forward a major investment that will shape the future of astrophysics and inspire new generations of explorers.
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