Fund the Program
The measurement tools need to exist before the question becomes urgent.
If scaled neural computation can give rise to states with positive or negative character, we should know how to recognize them. Your contribution funds the 2026 deliverable: a formal mathematical framework for measuring the geometric property STV associates with valence in digital minds.
What You're Funding
Symmetry workspace for positive functional valence in digital minds
Target: a draft mathematical definition of the symmetry workspace by end of 2026. The deliverable is a formal framework for identifying structural invariants in neural computation that correlate with positive valence, grounded in the Symmetry Theory of Valence.
A good measure has to be able to say ‘no.’ When we find systems with no sign of valence, we’ll publish that as a real result.
Budget Breakdown
Funding tiers
USD, annual
Lean Tier · Floor
$110k
Core Research
Lead researcher (50% FTE) and one junior ML engineer (50% FTE). Formal mathematical definitions, the core PyTorch simulation engine, and the theoretical whitepaper.
Recommended · Mainline Request
$135k
Full Program
Lead researcher (50% FTE) and one junior ML engineer, with no postdoc at this tier. Funds the headline cross-linguistic perturbation-recovery experiment: matched aversive-vs-neutral contexts in four languages (ES, DE, SV, EN), measuring internal recovery dynamics and testing cross-language invariance as a state-vs-mimicry discriminator. It runs on modest hardware by design, on free infrastructure such as NNsight/NDIF where available and otherwise on modest paid cloud GPU, with a reduced paid-compute line covering only custom simulation and fine-tuning that free infrastructure does not, plus field-building and dissemination.
Stretch Tier · Ambition
$260k
Frontier Deployment
A full-time team. Pilots the measurement toolkit on larger open-weights frontier models and seeks collaboration with external interpretability labs, using local Jacobian and spectral trajectory metrics on active, large-scale systems. It also funds the biological comparison: mapping the same metrics onto invertebrate electrophysiology and connectome data (stomatogastric ganglion, OpenWorm C. elegans) as a method plausibility check rather than a valence anchor. This tier could also support a future postdoc hire (e.g. global-workspace or cognitive science).
Ways to Contribute
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Research Partnership
Collaborate on the Digital Valence Program, AI welfare research, or long-term measurement infrastructure.
Contact PartnershipsLegal Status
The Center for Sentience Research is an independent non-profit in formation, with charitable fiscal sponsorship in progress (pending approval). Once sponsorship is confirmed, contributions may be tax-deductible depending on your jurisdiction. Contact us for current details and donation receipts.
Annual research outputs and financial summaries are made public. Transparency-First model.