Opportunity profile: Picking particle physics apart

The Opra Association is looking to fund particle physicists willing to question the standard model

Top tips

• The Opra Association funds research that delves into problems with the standard model of particle physics, but hypotheses can defend or attack the standard model.
• The association is open to bids from anywhere in the world and from researchers at any career stage.
• Application quality is of paramount importance and the association will work with applicants to hone bids.
• Bids that do not engage fully with the funder’s priorities and seek funding to continue a pre-existing line of research will be knocked back.

Particle physicists with a streak of iconoclasm might just have found their ideal funder. The Israel-based Opra Association is looking to fund research that aims to solve long-running problems with the standard model of particle physics.