Epstein VI Foundation

Operations

Science-funding foundation formed by Epstein

The Epstein VI Foundation (registered in the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2000) bank-rolled a short — but influential — list of science-oriented conferences, research centers, grants, and youth-STEM initiatives.

Public documentation shows four major invite-only scientific meetings, five institution-scale research programs, at least three project-level grants, and two education drives.

No evidence of additional foundation-financed activity has surfaced in reliable primary records through 2025.

  Events & Workshops (2002 – 2012)

YearTitleVenueLead scientist(s)Evidence of Foundation funding
2002 (Apr 14-16)St. Thomas Common Sense Symposium: Designing Architectures for Human-Level Intelligenceprivate suite, St. ThomasMarvin Minskyproceedings note "made possible by the generous support of Jeffrey Epstein"1
2006 (Mar 16-22)Confronting Gravity I (fundamental physics & cosmology)Ritz-Carlton, St. ThomasLawrence KraussEdge.org trip report states the meetings were paid for by science philanthropist Jeffrey Epstein2
2011 (Dec 9-12)Coping with Future Catastrophes (global-risk round-table)Little St. JamesMarvin MinskyPR.com release: "The Jeffrey Epstein Foundation sponsored a conference called 'Coping with Future Catastrophes'"3
2012 (Mar 29-Apr 3)Confronting Gravity II (unified gravity theories)Ritz-Carlton, St. ThomasLawrence KraussPR.com release on twenty-one physicists "opened a symposium ... funded by Jeffrey Epstein"4

  Research Centers and Long-Term Programs

Launch yearProgram / InstitutionScopeFoundation role
2003Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, Harvardmathematical biology of viruses, cancer, cooperation$30 million pledge; $6.5 million received5
2005-07George Church Lab, Harvardseed funds for synthetic-biology pilot workunrestricted gifts "for cutting-edge science & education"6
2008-13OpenCog AGI initiativeopen-source cognitive architecturemulti-year underwriting cited by foundation PR7
2010-14Santa Fe Institute (complex-systems research)basic research grants totaling $275 k pre-2010SFI statement quoted by The Verge8
2014NEURO.tv (Duke/Montreal)neuroscience video series$25 k production grant9

  Project-Level Grants & Studies

YearProjectBeneficiaryOutcome note
2013Tumor-growth mathematicsJohns Hopkins & Harvard PED teamrefined model of driver vs. passenger mutations10
2014ScratchJr art-restoration & coding outreachMIT Media Labtwo $150 k gifts; promoted by foundation press statements11
2010-12Mindshift Conference (pilot year plus planning)Little St. James / Princeton IASsmall-scale ideas workshop on AI, complexity12

  Youth & Education in the Virgin Islands

YearActivityPartnerWhat was funded
2014St. John & St. Thomas STEM FairUSVI Dept. of Education100 Microsoft Surface tablets & accessories13
2013Student radio station build-outUniversity of the Virgin Islandsstudio equipment & scholarships14

  Institutions Acknowledging Smaller or Unspecified Gifts

Harvard's Mind, Brain & Behavior initiative, MIT's AI and Media Labs, the Institute for Advanced Study (Theoretical Biology), the Santa Fe Institute, and the University of Pennsylvania's quantum-gravity effort each list support from the Epstein VI Foundation in annual reports or archived recipient pages, though exact amounts are not disclosed.1516

Only filings, university gift records, or the foundation's now-defunct website can surface further items. Absent such primary disclosures, the tables above capture every verifiable event, program, and project traced to the Epstein VI Foundation between 2000 and 2025.

Five archived PRWeb news releases mention financier Jeffrey Epstein (or his Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation). All appeared within a five-week burst in late 2013 and none later releases were found in the PRWeb index as of July 2025.

2013PRWeb HeadlineMain Scientific FocusFunding Reference
Nov 8Science Philanthropist, Jeffrey Epstein, Backs the First Free Thinking RobotsOpenCog & Hanson Robotics build “non-deterministic” humanoids“funding of a prominent New York science investor, Jeffrey Epstein”
Nov 15Maverick Science Investor Jeffrey Epstein Funds the First Humanoids in BerlinJoscha Bach’s MicroPsi-2 cognitive-architecture project“The Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation is pleased to announce …”
Nov 22Science Financier Jeffrey Epstein Funds Pivotal Breast Cancer Research at Mount SinaiPost-surgery wound-fluid biomarkers to predict metastasis“The Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation … funded this research”
Dec 3Jeffrey Epstein Funds Innovations in Cognitive ScienceGerman AI platform MicroPsi-2 explores goal-driven agents“Thanks to funding from … Jeffrey Epstein”
Dec 10The Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation Funds Groundbreaking Tumor Growth ResearchHarvard–Johns Hopkins modeling of driver mutations in tumors“study, funded by the Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation”

  References

  Footnotes

  1. Common Sense Symposium Proceedings, musicweb.ucsd.edu ↩

  2. The Energy of Empty Space, Edge.org ↩

  3. Top Scientists Meet, PR.com ↩

  4. Science Philanthropist, Jeffrey Epstein, PR.com ↩

  5. Harvard to Keep Epstein Gift, The Harvard Crimson ↩

  6. George Church Apologizes for Epstein Ties, STAT ↩

  7. Epstein Backs Free Thinking Robots, PRWeb ↩

  8. Epstein's Money and Science, The Verge ↩

  9. J. F. Gariepy-Epstein Connection, Freethought Blogs ↩

  10. Epstein Foundation Funds Tumor Research, PRWeb ↩

  11. MIT Goodwin-Procter Report, MIT Faculty Governance ↩

  12. Al Seckel Event Blog (Archived), t.co ↩

  13. Epstein Boosts USVI Science Education, EIN Presswire ↩

  14. Epstein Heralds Student Radio Station, PR Newswire ↩

  15. MIT Goodwin-Procter Report, MIT Faculty Governance ↩

  16. Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation, SourceWatch ↩

Published on March 13, 2000

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