Program — The Science of Consciousness 2026

Confirmed Plenary Speakers

Leading researchers from neuroscience, physics, philosophy, and beyond.

Roger Penrose

University of Oxford

Remote

Sarika Katiyar

Indian Council of Medical Research

Nirosha Murugan

Wilfrid Laurier University

Anirban Bandyopadhyay

National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan

Susan Schneider

Florida Atlantic University

Tracy Brandmeyer

Cognigenics and BrainMind

André M. Bastos

Vanderbilt University

Edward Boyden

MIT & HHMI

Robin Carhart-Harris

UCSF Neurology

Stuart Hameroff

University of Arizona

Edward Large

University of Connecticut

Helané Wahbeh

Institute of Noetic Sciences

Michael Levin

Tufts University

Remote

Alysson Muotri

UC San Diego

Lea Gassab

University of Waterloo

Jennifer Prendki

AI & Data Science Researcher

Hartmut Neven

Google Quantum AI

Beatriz Villarroel

Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics

Dean Radin

Institute of Noetic Sciences

Steen Rasmussen

Univ. of Southern Denmark & Santa Fe Institute

Terry Sejnowski

Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Kenneth Kosik

UC Santa Barbara

Roumiana Tsenkova

Kobe University

Jonathan Schooler

UC Santa Barbara

Plenary Session Topics

Fourteen plenary sessions across six days — spanning quantum biology, neuroscience, AI, psi research, and the origins of consciousness.

PL-1 Quantum Biophotonics in Living Systems
PL-2 Cerebral Organoids and Consciousness
PL-3 Neuroscience of Consciousness
PL-4 Psychedelics and Consciousness
PL-5 Non-Local Consciousness and “Psi”
PL-6 Quantum AI and Consciousness
PL-7 Origins of Life and Consciousness
PL-8 Alien Consciousness
PL-9 Is the Brain Organized by Connectomics or Wavefields?
PL-10 Origins of Life and Consciousness — Which Came First?
PL-11 Altered States of Consciousness
PL-12 Consciousness and AI
PL-13 Anesthesia and Consciousness
PL-14 Fundamental Geometry and Platonic Values in the Universe

Week at a Glance

	SundayOct 11	MondayOct 12	TuesdayOct 13	WednesdayOct 14	ThursdayOct 15	FridayOct 16
8:30 am	Morning Workshops	PL-1: Quantum Biophotonics Tuszynski, Gassab, Tsenkova	PL-4: Psychedelics & Consciousness Carhart-Harris, Zeidan, Craddock	PL-7: Origins of Life & Consciousness Murugan, TBA	PL-10: Life or Consciousness First? Rasmussen, Hameroff, Lakhany	PL-13: Anesthesia & Consciousness Katiyar, Patel, Wiest
10:40
11:10 am	Morning Workshops (cont.)	PL-2: Cerebral Organoids Muotri, Kosik	PL-5: Non-Local Consciousness & Psi Hennacy, Wahbeh	PL-8: Alien Consciousness Radin, Villarroel	PL-11: Altered States TBA, TBA	PL-14: Geometry & Platonic Values Levin, Penrose
12:30						Closing (ends 1PM)
2:00 pm	Afternoon Workshops	PL-3: Neuroscience of Consciousness Boyden, Halgren, Brandmeyer	PL-6: Quantum AI & Consciousness Neven, Schneider, Bandyopadhyay	PL-9: Connectomics or Wavefields? Bastos, Sejnowski, Large	PL-12: Consciousness and AI Prendki, TBA
4:10
5:00 pm	Light Reception	Concurrent 1 Submit an abstract	Concurrent 2 Submit an abstract	Concurrent 3 Submit an abstract	Concurrent 4 Submit an abstract
7:00 pm	Opening
7:30 pm	Featured Workshop	Reception	Poster Session 1	Poster Session 2	Luau Dinner

Detailed Timetable

Plenary

Concurrent sessions

Workshops

Posters

Social / experiential

Break

Sunday, October 11 — Workshops & Opening Plenary

8:30 am

Morning Workshops (3–4 parallel) →

12:00 pm

Lunch break

1:30 pm

Afternoon Workshops (3–4 parallel) →

5:00 pm

7:00 pm

Opening

7:30 pm

Featured Workshop

Speaker TBA

Monday, October 12

8:30 am

PL-1: Quantum Biophotonics in Living Systems

Jack Tuszynski, Lea Gassab, Roumiana Tsenkova

Tuszynski: TBA

Gassab: Quantum Biophotonics of Microtubules: Light, Energy, and Neural Function

Tsenkova: TBA

10:40 am

Break (30 min)

11:10 am

PL-2: Cerebral Organoids and Consciousness

Alysson Muotri, Kenneth Kosik

Muotri: Human brain organoids as a plataform to investigate the emercence of consciousness

Kosik: Effects of Natural Xenon on Human Brain Organoids and Cultured Neurons

12:30 pm

Lunch

2:00 pm

PL-3: Neuroscience of Consciousness

Edward Boyden, Eric Halgren, Tracy Brandmeyer

Boyden: TBA

Halgren: TBA

Brandmeyer: TBA

4:10 pm

Break

5:00 pm

Concurrent Sessions 1 (8–10 parallel) →

7:00 pm

Break

7:30 pm

Tuesday, October 13

8:30 am

PL-4: Psychedelics and Consciousness

Robin Carhart-Harris, Fadel Zeidan, Travis Craddock

Carhart-Harris: How Psychedelics Work: Illuminating the Hidden Mind

Zeidan: TBA

Craddock: TBA

10:40 am

Break (30 min)

11:10 am

PL-5: Non-Local Consciousness and “Psi”

Diane Hennacy (provisional), Helane Wahbeh

Hennacy: TBA

Wahbeh: TBA

12:30 pm

Lunch

2:00 pm

PL-6: Quantum AI and Consciousness

Hartmut Neven, Susan Schneider, Anirban Bandyopadhyay

Neven: TBA

Schneider: Which AIs Might be Conscious, and Why it Matters

Bandyopadhyay: Quantum LLMs for No-Algorithm Regimes: Contextuality-Theatre Intelligence via Invariant Fibers and Multi-Clock Dynamics

4:10 pm

Break

5:00 pm

Concurrent Sessions 2 (8–10 parallel) →

7:00 pm

Break

7:30 pm

Poster Session 1

Catalina Ballroom K

Wednesday, October 14

8:30 am

PL-7: Origins of Life and Consciousness

Nirosha Murugan, TBA

Murugan: Superstitious conditioning shapes the illusory experience of free will under causal determinism

10:40 am

Break (30 min)

11:10 am

PL-8: Alien Consciousness

Dean Radin, Beatriz Villarroel

Radin: Psychological Correlates of Psychic Performance

Villarroel: Mysterious Light Flashes in Historical Astronomical Observations

12:30 pm

Lunch

2:00 pm

PL-9: Is the Brain Organized by Connectomics or Wavefields?

André Bastos, Terry Sejnowski, Edward Large

Bastos: Predictive Coding: A More Cognitive Process Than We Thought?

Sejnowski: TBA

Large: Musical Neurodynamics – Resonance, Stability, and the Embodied Mind

4:10 pm

Break

5:00 pm

Concurrent Sessions 3 (8–10 parallel) →

7:00 pm

Break

7:30 pm

Poster Session 2

Catalina Ballroom K

Thursday, October 15

8:30 am

PL-10: Origins of Life and Consciousness — Which Came First?

Steen Rasmussen, Stuart Hameroff, Farhan Lakhany

Rasmussen: TBA

Hameroff: TBA

Lakhany: TBA

10:40 am

Break (30 min)

11:10 am

PL-11: Altered States of Consciousness

TBA, TBA

12:30 pm

Lunch

2:00 pm

PL-12: Consciousness and AI

Jennifer Prendki, TBA

Prendki: TBA

4:10 pm

Break

5:00 pm

Concurrent Sessions 4 (8–10 parallel) →

7:00 pm

Break

7:30 pm

Friday, October 16

9:00 am

PL-13: Anesthesia and Consciousness

Sarika Katiyar, Hemal Patel, Mike Wiest

Katiyar: Brain Megahertz Signatures of Anaesthetic-Induced Loss of Consciousness in the Surgical Operating Room

Patel: TBA

Wiest: TBA

11:10 am

Break (30 min)

11:40 am

PL-14: Fundamental Geometry and Platonic Values in the Universe

Michael Levin (Remote), Roger Penrose (Remote)

Levin: Diverse intelligence in unconventional embodiments: origins and implications

Penrose: TBA

12:30 pm

Conference Close: The Future of Consciousness

1:00 pm

End of conference

Program is preliminary and subject to change.