• We are the Institute for the Theory of STEM. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. For now, at least, we are primarily mathematicians. Working on theoretical topics that are highly applicable, often to multiple areas of S, T and E at once. Such as combinatorics, geometry, and applied topology. The work we produce is intellectually comparable to the output of a university mathematics department.

Contact address and some ways of interacting with us

• If you have an answer to a riddle, be welcome to contact InstTheorySTEM -at- protonmail.com . These riddles are a form of outreach. Ones marked + are intended for people with graduate knowledge. Ones marked – might be doable by people with less than undergraduate knowledge. Ones marked ++ are for experts, who might also provide deeper answers to the open questions posed.

• Suppose that you come to us with understanding equivalent to the PhD level, and a new piece of work that strongly merits publication from an intellectual point of view. Then if you tell us which of applied topology, mathematical physics or theoretical computer science we should develop next, your opinion will carry nonzero weight in our progress forward. The other options that we can currently contemplate are more geometry and more combinatorics, given that we already have each of these programs running to some extent. Also, under these circumstances, you would be welcome to name further areas of STEM which either lack in satisfactory theory or for which current theorizing has elsewhere become too divorced from wide applicability. For we do widely applicable types of STEM Theory here.
• The above three items indicate that most, but not all, people interacting with us will have at least a PhD level of knowledge in STEM. This level includes those who have done a PhD’s amount of work in the theory of STEM (say three published papers or three intellectually-publishable papers). Or who can produce such an amount of original work at short notice. We know very well that in the current era, many of the most talented students are no longer electing to enter PhD programs. Some go and work for cutting-edge tech companies. And some very talented students passing from a Mathematics degree to a PhD in theoretical Computer Science is a concurrently increasing trend.
• A separate criterion by which the Institute of the Theory of STEM might be a suitable place for you to interact is if you are world-class for your level of experience in some part of the Theory of STEM. World-class in ways that we determine. For full participation, you must either be at least 18 or, specifically, 17 and already an undergraduate. Being an undergraduate who can regularly answer quite a lot of our ++ riddles and our members’ ++ exercises and associated research projects would qualify. Being a graduate who can regularly answer an even higher proportion of these would also qualify. In both of these cases, you might be offered an intellectual mentor here.
• STEM-trained people who think differently from others, or who have a particular aptitude for at least one corner of the Theory of STEM, are however also welcome to participate. For instance, we have online summer schools and an Applied Topology and Combinatorics Discussion Group. To be clear, interacting with the Institute is not the same thing as being in the Institute. As a particular case, such a person might be trying one ++ Research Project we listed somewhere. Or they might have come along with a project of their own that we consider to be intellectually comparable.
• Kindly take note here that some of those who find that you can do our harder riddles and exercises were not previously aware of being strong in STEM. While others did not previously want to shine in public, and may still choose to not shine in public. So do not think that this could not possibly be you. And here are two reasons why you might not have previously noticed. Firstly, your university might not set harder exercises of this particular kind. For technical composition hardness, trick-finding hardness and requiring the person to find a new conceptualization are not at all the same thing. Secondly, you might have tried Math Olympiad questions and not had much affinity with any of the several subject areas they are on. This does not however preclude you having affinity with some further area of mathematics, such as topology, abstract algebra, a different kind of geometry, or mathematical physics, say, which subjects you only start to encounter at the undergraduate or graduate level.
• The previous four items’ criteria may on occasion be supplemented by the person being highly adept at Socratic Thinking, or some highly-efficient form of Conceptual Thinking. In a sense, this is what we encourage here where other places might instead have a pure Philosophy or Philosophy of Science member, sub-department or sibling department.

A small subset of our disclaimer, mostly concerning some of the ways not to interact with us, is here: https://wordpress.com/page/institute-theory-stem.org/147