How are life and consciousness, respectively, characterized, and how are their relations to each other best understood?

(A) My research trajectory involves providing a theoretical treatment of the following question from the perspective of the ‘free energy principle’ (FEP) in neuroscience: how are life and consciousness, respectively, characterized, and how are their relations to each other best understood? (B) The FEP combines key insights from statistical physics, thermodynamics, and Bayesian probability theory to understand the structure and function of the brain. The scientific field that I which to enhance my knowledge about is the statistical and thermodynamic basis of the FEP, and how this principle can be understood as having implications for our understanding of life and consciousness. Therefore, I am applying for a John Templeton Foundation ACT Fellowship to undertake cross-training on the theoretical assumptions and implications of the FEP developed by Prof. Karl Friston and his colleagues at the Welcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at University College London. (C) Because my research combines studies of life and consciousness, on the one hand, with the FEP, on the other, having the opportunity to learn from Prof. Friston and his group at UCL will significantly improve my knowledge of statistical physics, thermodynamics, and Bayesian probability theory. Adding this knowledge base to my research will allow me to address the relationship between life and consciousness from the point of view of the FEP in much richer detail. (D) My cross-disciplinary mentor will be Prof. Karl Friston (http://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/~karl/) (E) I expect my research program to become increasingly more cross-disciplinary after undertaking the ACT Fellowship at UCL. Moreover, and even more importantly, I will be in a position to address deep philosophical problems such as the relationship between life and consciousness, on the one hand, and what gives rise to life and consciousness, on the other, with scientific rigour in addition to philosophical depth.