Published text

Structured research records

1. the missing middle gets a name · convergent-research-eras · 2019–2020 (approximate)

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   {
     "id": "conception",
     "range": "2019–2020",
     "summary": "the fro idea gestates in ed boyden's mit lab — rodriques' phd thesis writes it down first, marblestone carries it to the day one project, and the memo asks the federal government for sixteen of them.",
     "title": "the missing middle gets a name"
   }

2. the incubator appears · convergent-research-eras · 2021 (year)

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   {
     "id": "founding",
     "range": "2021",
     "summary": "marblestone and gamick found convergent research inside schmidt futures; the october unveiling names e11 bio and cultivarium — and astera's rejuvenome turns out to be the third fro of the same wave.",
     "title": "the incubator appears"
   }

3. the first cohort · convergent-research-eras · 2022–2023 (approximate)

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   {
     "id": "portfolio",
     "range": "2022–2023",
     "summary": "the nature comment canonizes the model, the tony blair institute report seeds the uk, schmidt and griffin commit $50m, and the 2023 wave — pti, eve bio, forest, [c]worthy, imprint, chi-fro, lean — fills out the roster.",
     "title": "the first cohort"
   }

4. the institutionalization · convergent-research-eras · 2024–2025 (approximate)

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   {
     "id": "institutionalization",
     "range": "2024–2025",
     "summary": "aria names convergent an activation partner, the gap map and essential technology productize the thesis, the white house recommends fro agreements, and nsf's tech labs rfi turns the model toward federal scale.",
     "title": "the institutionalization"
   }

5. the spread · convergent-research-eras · 2026– (approximate)

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   {
     "id": "expansion",
     "range": "2026–",
     "summary": "chi-fro becomes the first transition, dragonfly's mothra array lands in nature, meridial and echo labs open the uk cohort, and melody surfaces in pasadena.",
     "title": "the spread"
   }

6. the thesis chapter · convergent-research-timeline · 2019-05-17 (day) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

   Original location · source-4e26d11534849d5b5d7b · source-953e464eabb2b7acecc0

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   {
     "confidence": "confirmed",
     "date": "2019-05-17",
     "detail": "sam rodriques submits his mit physics phd thesis, 'mapping cell types, dynamics, and connections in neural circuits' (advisors boyden and gore). its closing chapter critiques academic incentives and proposes 'a structure for basic science research... based on the systematic establishment of well-funded, highly focused research projects with clear goals, an incentive to rapidly disseminate information, and limited lifetimes' — the first written fro proposal, per rodriques himself.",
     "era": "conception",
     "id": "evt-rodriques-thesis",
     "sourceIds": [
       "src-hp-rodriques-thesis",
       "src-hp-sam-rodriques-post"
     ],
     "title": "the thesis chapter"
   }

7. the boyden-lab conception · convergent-research-timeline · 2019 (year) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

   Original location · source-178589ae0c07c88ec1c8 · source-d0a887118569c1621c53 · source-a6a2db5ed0d61a03a3d5

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   {
     "confidence": "confirmed",
     "date": "2019",
     "detail": "marblestone — then a research scientist in boyden's synthetic neurobiology group — develops the concept in parallel with the boyden-lab circle including andrew payne and rodriques. rodriques dates the joint conception to ~2019 and calls the brain-mapping project that became e11 bio 'the original inspiration for the focused research organization model.'",
     "era": "conception",
     "id": "evt-mit-conception",
     "sourceIds": [
       "src-hp-mit-news",
       "src-ci-rodriques-learnings",
       "src-hp-rodriques-connectome"
     ],
     "title": "the boyden-lab conception"
   }

8. the day one memo · convergent-research-timeline · 2020-09-24 (day) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

   Original location · source-3632b88a98357cd36ee0 · source-b56514e058ca1b5e9ca4

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   {
     "confidence": "confirmed",
     "date": "2020-09-24",
     "detail": "rodriques and marblestone publish 'focused research organizations to accelerate science, technology, and medicine' through the day one project at the federation of american scientists. the memo urges the next administration to fund '16 new fros: four per year for the next four years' under ostp, and defines fros as 'stand-alone moonshot organizations insulated from both academic and commercial incentive structures' — organized like startups, accountable to funders rather than shareholders.",
     "era": "conception",
     "id": "evt-dayone-memo",
     "sourceIds": [
       "src-hp-dayone-whitepaper",
       "src-ci-dayone-memo"
     ],
     "title": "the day one memo"
   }

9. the dormant uk thread · convergent-research-timeline · 2020 (year) · reported (original editorial confidence)

   Original location · source-b59ffd2166f8148a461f

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   {
     "confidence": "reported",
     "date": "2020",
     "detail": "a dominic cummings-led uk government team works on fros in parallel — 'we started work on fros in uk 2020' — and stalls, per the tbi report's later account. the uk thread stays dormant until aria picks it up years later.",
     "era": "conception",
     "id": "evt-uk-cummings",
     "sourceIds": [
       "src-hp-tbi-whats-your-fro"
     ],
     "title": "the dormant uk thread"
   }

10. convergent founded · convergent-research-timeline · 2021 (year) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-6a9aa7f10fb0f4ffedd3 · source-09c116546d6afac8ba39 · source-178589ae0c07c88ec1c8 · source-b4799a3014637c5ea6a7

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    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2021",
      "detail": "convergent research is created as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit inside schmidt futures — 'in 2021, two of us (marblestone and gamick) founded the nonprofit convergent research.' marblestone was a schmidt futures innovation fellow; tom kalil, then schmidt futures' chief innovation officer, is credited by mit news alongside the co-founders and becomes board chair. the exact incorporation date is not public.",
      "era": "founding",
      "id": "evt-convergent-founded",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-hp-issues-field-notes",
        "src-hp-fastcompany-launch",
        "src-hp-mit-news",
        "src-hp-kalil-bio"
      ],
      "title": "convergent founded"
    }

11. the fast company unveiling · convergent-research-timeline · 2021-10-12 (day) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-09c116546d6afac8ba39 · source-f1ae20be4cfe15763f72 · source-d195ade5b3e5db93bf5b

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    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2021-10-12",
      "detail": "the public unveiling: a fast company exclusive (adele peters) announces convergent — 'spun out of schmidt futures' — and names the first two fros, e11 bio (andrew payne) and cultivarium. marblestone frames the gap: in academia 'your job is to publish scientific papers'; in industry 'you're probably going to want to take the lowest-risk path.'",
      "era": "founding",
      "id": "evt-launch",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-hp-fastcompany-launch",
        "src-hp-e11-page",
        "src-hp-cultivarium-page"
      ],
      "title": "the fast company unveiling"
    }

12. the third fro isn't convergent's · convergent-research-timeline · 2021-10-13 (day) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-7b85c444b6f723ccf19c · source-d4b4165517e45dc51743 · source-953e464eabb2b7acecc0 · source-b59ffd2166f8148a461f

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    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2021-10-13",
      "detail": "the astera institute and the buck institute announce the $70m rejuvenome project — astera's seemay chou later calls it 'the first fro' they funded. rodriques' count: 'in october 2021, three fros were funded by schmidt futures and astera.' the third was astera's own, not a convergent subsidiary — the roster is easy to miscount.",
      "era": "founding",
      "id": "evt-rejuvenome",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-ci-buckinstitute-rejuvenome",
        "src-ci-astera-bottlenecks",
        "src-hp-sam-rodriques-post",
        "src-hp-tbi-whats-your-fro"
      ],
      "title": "the third fro isn't convergent's"
    }

13. the schmidt futures network · convergent-research-timeline · 2021-10-16 (day) · reported (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-dc7b62f4a0c423f86fe9 · source-2ad8295e4aec63082882 · source-8999c549526e5f687ad4

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    {
      "confidence": "reported",
      "date": "2021-10-16",
      "detail": "schmidt futures announces the schmidt futures network, with convergent as its first initiative — the philanthropy-trade writeup is dated via its wikipedia citation. marblestone's own blog runs a curated link-log of the launch-week fro mentions, evidence of a coordinated media push.",
      "era": "founding",
      "id": "evt-sfn",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-ci-sfn-pnd",
        "src-hp-wikipedia",
        "src-ci-longitudinal"
      ],
      "title": "the schmidt futures network"
    }

14. fro & parpa · convergent-research-timeline · 2021-10-19 (day) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-9c5d442543f4fbbd201e

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    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2021-10-19",
      "detail": "launch week closes with a foresight institute session pairing marblestone with ben reinhardt — 'fro & parpa: innovating in scientific innovation' — the first public instance of the fro-vs-arpa framing that organizes the discourse afterward.",
      "era": "founding",
      "id": "evt-foresight-parpa",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-hp-foresight-fro-parpa"
      ],
      "title": "fro & parpa"
    }

15. the bottlenecks workshop · convergent-research-timeline · 2021 (year) · reported (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-26f3f162f1c88944a4e6

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    {
      "confidence": "reported",
      "date": "2021",
      "detail": "the 'bottlenecks in science and technology' workshop — marblestone presenting, co-organized with josé ricón of nintil — seeds the connectomics and non-model-microbe examples inside the metascience scene and frames fros as 'mini manhattan projects.'",
      "era": "founding",
      "id": "evt-nintil-workshop",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-ci-nintil-workshop"
      ],
      "title": "the bottlenecks workshop"
    }

16. the nature manifesto · convergent-research-timeline · 2022-01-11 (day) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-dca0e531ded94071b04d

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    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2022-01-11",
      "detail": "the nature world view 'unblock research bottlenecks with non-profit start-ups' — six authors: marblestone, gamick, kalil, martin, cvitkovic, rodriques — becomes the canonical manifesto in mainstream science press: 'mid-scale projects that don't get tackled by academia, venture capitalists or government labs,' ~$20m–$100m over ~5 years.",
      "era": "portfolio",
      "id": "evt-nature-comment",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-hp-nature-comment"
      ],
      "title": "the nature manifesto"
    }

17. the ostp shadow · convergent-research-timeline · 2022-03-28 (day) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-eef79ccc8364e6e15d42 · source-792e29adbc0a8b3232c6 · source-f8e209813cde31589184 · source-c41f0e090c38bda3ed4d

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    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2022-03-28",
      "detail": "politico reports schmidt futures 'indirectly paid the salaries of two ostp employees' and that the office's general counsel raised ethics flags about schmidt's science-policy influence; house oversight republicans open an inquiry a month later. convergent is accused of nothing — the controversy attaches to its anchor funder's washington footprint.",
      "era": "portfolio",
      "id": "evt-ostp-schmidt",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-ci-politico-ostp",
        "src-ci-verge-ostp",
        "src-ci-vox-ostp",
        "src-ci-house-oversight"
      ],
      "title": "the ostp shadow"
    }

18. seal teams for science · convergent-research-timeline · 2022-08-04 (day) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-e2d85e905e5dbdcecbbe · source-3131ba527640fff4c2ef · source-b59ffd2166f8148a461f

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    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2022-08-04",
      "detail": "the tony blair institute publishes 'a new model for science' with convergent and the entrepreneurs network — 'seal teams for science' and a uk opportunity analysis that later seeds aria and research ventures catalyst adoption. days later eric schmidt tweets convergent's rolling fro-proposal call; the open-solicitation era begins.",
      "era": "portfolio",
      "id": "evt-tbi-report",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-ci-tbi-new-model",
        "src-ci-ten-newmodel",
        "src-hp-tbi-whats-your-fro"
      ],
      "title": "seal teams for science"
    }

19. schmidt and griffin's $50m · convergent-research-timeline · 2023-03-15 (day) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-7db63be33ac70dad2e17 · source-a90c9691e30736fcc9d7 · source-ca1ceef4f0a6310e3203 · source-579c36731d159bedf0a0

    Original structured fields

    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2023-03-15",
      "detail": "schmidt futures and ken griffin commit $50m to convergent — the first major outside-anchor funding beyond the schmidts. forbes reports the next two fros (eve bio and the parallel squared technology institute) and a pipeline of '>300 fro proposals' (reported via convergent).",
      "era": "portfolio",
      "id": "evt-50m",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-ci-schmidt-50m",
        "src-hp-forbes-50m",
        "src-hp-leaders-50m",
        "src-ci-northeastern-50m"
      ],
      "title": "schmidt and griffin's $50m"
    }

20. fas keeps the memo alive · convergent-research-timeline · 2023-06-13 (day) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-16e4bff3e7b03fcce935 · source-4d3377de0a9063b3e667

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    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2023-06-13",
      "detail": "the federation of american scientists — institutional home of the 2020 memo — publishes 'focused research organizations: a new model for scientific research' and stands up a standing fro initiative page, framing fros as a us competitiveness instrument.",
      "era": "portfolio",
      "id": "evt-fas-model",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-ci-fas-model",
        "src-hp-fas-new-model"
      ],
      "title": "fas keeps the memo alive"
    }

21. the sunset doctrine bends · convergent-research-timeline · 2023-06-14 (day) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-d0a887118569c1621c53

    Original structured fields

    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2023-06-14",
      "detail": "rodriques posts 'three learnings about focused research organizations': 'at least four fros... each funded with $20m–$50m' now exist, and the 5–7-year sunset 'generated more concern than i had expected' — the first public revision of the doctrine. fros, he adds, should be free to grow if they succeed.",
      "era": "portfolio",
      "id": "evt-three-learnings",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-ci-rodriques-learnings"
      ],
      "title": "the sunset doctrine bends"
    }

22. lean fro · convergent-research-timeline · 2023-07-25 (day) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-fdd0f7bf4a50fbbf49b2 · source-234a478a502bca6a0d6b · source-178589ae0c07c88ec1c8

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    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2023-07-25",
      "detail": "the lean fro forms under convergent — leonardo de moura and sebastian ullrich's effort to sustain the lean proof assistant, funded by the simons foundation international, sloan, richard merkin, and founders pledge. deepmind's imo-silver system later runs on lean — the portfolio's most quotable downstream use.",
      "era": "portfolio",
      "id": "evt-lean-fro",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-ci-leanfro",
        "src-hp-lean-page",
        "src-hp-mit-news"
      ],
      "title": "lean fro"
    }

23. the 2023 wave · convergent-research-timeline · 2023 (year) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-c56de388632d030913f0 · source-c655df774df6776f0225 · source-211f6a77d94cbbb5a84d · source-384db7f6fd3943666336 · source-5c39e9beb99306647cbd · source-3cdb02afb9468d4c56f9 · source-a85a51c6019003ea07c5

    Original structured fields

    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2023",
      "detail": "the 2023 wave fills out the roster: pti (proteomics, slavov + specht), eve bio (pharmome mapping, durham), forest neurotech (whole-brain ultrasound bci, incubated at astera), [c]worthy (ocean cdr quantification, boulder), imprint ('forensic immunology,' nyc), and chi-fro (probabilistic computing, mansinghka + tenenbaum) — all 'established 2023' per the ecosystem page.",
      "era": "portfolio",
      "id": "evt-2023-wave",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-hp-convergent-ecosystem",
        "src-hp-pti-page",
        "src-hp-eve-page",
        "src-hp-forest-page",
        "src-hp-cworthy-page",
        "src-hp-imprint-page",
        "src-hp-chi-page"
      ],
      "title": "the 2023 wave"
    }

24. forest's butterfly deal · convergent-research-timeline · 2023-10-24 (day) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

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    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2023-10-24",
      "detail": "forest neurotech signs a five-year co-development deal with butterfly network — $20m to butterfly including licensing and milestones — and is described in coverage as 'the latest focused research organization to be created as part of convergent research.'",
      "era": "portfolio",
      "id": "evt-butterfly-forest",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-ci-butterfly-forest"
      ],
      "title": "forest's butterfly deal"
    }

25. rodriques builds his own · convergent-research-timeline · 2023 (year) · reported (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-f8489fc09e85e9c7e3aa · source-56663ec4dd584399fff8

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    {
      "confidence": "reported",
      "date": "2023",
      "detail": "rodriques co-founds futurehouse and publishes a cell commentary on fro-like organizations — the co-inventor builds his own version outside the convergent line.",
      "era": "portfolio",
      "id": "evt-futurehouse",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-ci-fas-techlabs",
        "src-hp-nature-editorial-2024"
      ],
      "title": "rodriques builds his own"
    }

26. aria picks convergent · convergent-research-timeline · 2024-05-03 (day) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-cfc3c844d7e19451ae5b · source-78a8a6b58b1d992ed23c · source-a758d91e73fc6a8b32be

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    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2024-05-03",
      "detail": "aria publishes its activation partners tender — the uk advanced research agency begins shopping for the partner who will run a fro program there. convergent is named among nine activation partners on october 9; its own announcement post carries a 2025 site date that reads as a migration artifact.",
      "era": "institutionalization",
      "id": "evt-aria-partner",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-hp-findtender-aria",
        "src-hp-aria-activation",
        "src-ci-convergent-aria"
      ],
      "title": "aria picks convergent"
    }

27. renaissance philanthropy · convergent-research-timeline · 2024-05-06 (day) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-8b511704ec0e331af547 · source-5c91b970a4ac839c86f7 · source-b4799a3014637c5ea6a7 · source-f9a633215ad36e552511

    Original structured fields

    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2024-05-06",
      "detail": "tom kalil launches renaissance philanthropy — kalil as ceo, kumar garg as president, a founding donation from eric and wendy schmidt — and keeps the convergent board chair. the sibling (not parent) org later runs the 'big if true science' accelerator and the xtx-funded ai for math fund.",
      "era": "institutionalization",
      "id": "evt-renaissance",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-hp-renaissance-launch",
        "src-hp-axios-renaissance",
        "src-hp-kalil-bio",
        "src-hp-inside-philanthropy"
      ],
      "title": "renaissance philanthropy"
    }

28. the connectomics roadmap · convergent-research-timeline · 2024-12-03 (day) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-79dab92ec1579788f21f · source-974b0eb30034174dc868

    Original structured fields

    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2024-12-03",
      "detail": "e11 bio releases its roadmap toward 100x-cheaper connectomics — the prism preview and the self-proofreading claim — with bloomberg coverage the same day.",
      "era": "institutionalization",
      "id": "evt-e11-roadmap",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-hp-e11-roadmap",
        "src-hp-bloomberg-e11"
      ],
      "title": "the connectomics roadmap"
    }

29. forest 1 in the nhs · convergent-research-timeline · 2025-01-20 (day) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-44e64d6c0de63cdc6f7c

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    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2025-01-20",
      "detail": "the guardian reports forest neurotech's ultrasound device in an nhs trial — the first fro artifact inside a national health system.",
      "era": "institutionalization",
      "id": "evt-guardian-forest",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-hp-guardian-forest"
      ],
      "title": "forest 1 in the nhs"
    }

30. essential technology · convergent-research-timeline · 2025-02-07 (day) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-1b98e1612d8f7906339e · source-a08f6c7639f2ae463ab8

    Original structured fields

    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2025-02-07",
      "detail": "convergent launches its blog, essential technology, with marblestone's 'how to build essential technology' manifesto — 'bridge-scale' science, a claimed ~100 fro-shaped projects, and a uk open-call deadline of february 16. the rough magnitudes are self-reported.",
      "era": "institutionalization",
      "id": "evt-essential-tech",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-hp-essential-tech-manifesto",
        "src-ci-et-launch"
      ],
      "title": "essential technology"
    }

31. the gap map · convergent-research-timeline · 2025-04-15 (day) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-c29db98d26c46f18f96c · source-2bcf06836b10b0d249c2

    Original structured fields

    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2025-04-15",
      "detail": "the gap map v1.0 ships at gap-map.org — the 'fundamental development gap map,' convergent's public database of the bottlenecks the thesis names. institutional innovation, productized.",
      "era": "institutionalization",
      "id": "evt-gap-map",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-ci-gapmap",
        "src-hp-gap-map-site"
      ],
      "title": "the gap map"
    }

32. imprint goes public · convergent-research-timeline · 2025-05-15 (day) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-b11a669267074b70c989 · source-c7074d0e9e053f992d7c · source-3cdb02afb9468d4c56f9

    Original structured fields

    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2025-05-15",
      "detail": "imprint labs announces $15m in philanthropic funding — its public launch — to decode 'the immune system' for chronic-disease research; funders include the schmidts, nycedc, and peter reinhardt, with ceo beck brachman fresh off a ted stage.",
      "era": "institutionalization",
      "id": "evt-imprint-launch",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-ci-imprint-launch",
        "src-ci-biotechgrid-imprint",
        "src-hp-imprint-page"
      ],
      "title": "imprint goes public"
    }

33. the mit news canonization · convergent-research-timeline · 2025-06-06 (day) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-178589ae0c07c88ec1c8

    Original structured fields

    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2025-06-06",
      "detail": "mit news publishes the institutional origin story — boyden lab to thesis chapter to day one memo to convergent — reporting 'convergent has supported the creation of 10 fros since its founding in 2021.'",
      "era": "institutionalization",
      "id": "evt-mit-news",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-hp-mit-news"
      ],
      "title": "the mit news canonization"
    }

34. the founder residency · convergent-research-timeline · 2025-06 (month) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-4d3948c2bb91cd24ad9b · source-6a9aa7f10fb0f4ffedd3

    Original structured fields

    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2025-06",
      "detail": "the uk fro founder residency kicks off — five teams chosen from roughly ninety to a hundred applications (reported counts vary) for a six-month program, with a capstone symposium around september 9. the cohort model of institutional manufacturing, run with aria.",
      "era": "institutionalization",
      "id": "evt-uk-residency",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-hp-uk-residency-post",
        "src-hp-issues-field-notes"
      ],
      "title": "the founder residency"
    }

35. the metascience alliance · convergent-research-timeline · 2025-07-02 (day) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-f094611ff4326ce25356 · source-9119c489682dfb882bb4

    Original structured fields

    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2025-07-02",
      "detail": "the metascience alliance is announced at metascience 2025 in london — 830 participants from ~65 countries; convergent joins at launch and gamick gives the day-3 opening keynote. trade press reports gamick's aria fro plan at £10–14m per fro.",
      "era": "institutionalization",
      "id": "evt-metascience-alliance",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-hp-metascience-keynote",
        "src-ci-rpn-aria"
      ],
      "title": "the metascience alliance"
    }

36. the ai action plan · convergent-research-timeline · 2025-07-23 (day) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-1af7c52d6eaaa64e6363 · source-6a9aa7f10fb0f4ffedd3

    Original structured fields

    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2025-07-23",
      "detail": "the white house 'america's ai action plan' recommends long-term agreements with fros for ai-enabled science — the model enters federal policy language.",
      "era": "institutionalization",
      "id": "evt-ai-action-plan",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-hp-ai-action-plan",
        "src-hp-issues-field-notes"
      ],
      "title": "the ai action plan"
    }

37. prism ships · convergent-research-timeline · 2025-10-01 (day) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-1cb4141d08dc201957dd · source-931df1e09d90829817c8 · source-fecd7f4833a3ab74d793 · source-5239122a4f23d2b31a71

    Original structured fields

    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2025-10-01",
      "detail": "e11 bio releases prism — the preprint lands on biorxiv september 26 (>750x label diversity, 8x tracing accuracy) alongside plasmids, reagents, and code; an ashlee vance podcast interview with payne rounds out the push. licensing is cc-by-nc — public goods with a boundary.",
      "era": "institutionalization",
      "id": "evt-prism",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-ci-biorxiv-prism",
        "src-ci-newswise-prism",
        "src-ci-e11-prism-blog",
        "src-ci-corememory-payne"
      ],
      "title": "prism ships"
    }

38. the field notes · convergent-research-timeline · 2025-10-13 (day) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-6a9aa7f10fb0f4ffedd3

    Original structured fields

    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2025-10-13",
      "detail": "'field notes on moving focused research organizations forward' — marblestone, gamick, wang, and fridman's four-year retrospective in issues in science and technology — is candid about what broke: darpa-rigid milestones needed reworking into 'north star' goals, scientist-founders needed coaches, midstream fundraising stays hard, and 'an fro's path to success must involve a kind of product development.'",
      "era": "institutionalization",
      "id": "evt-field-notes",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-hp-issues-field-notes"
      ],
      "title": "the field notes"
    }

39. nsf tech labs · convergent-research-timeline · 2025-12-12 (day) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-7268daa2fada85755897 · source-38dd27bf6b75b8d8b008 · source-46d7e51e127e2602cce9 · source-f8489fc09e85e9c7e3aa · source-9873421139edce7f69f7

    Original structured fields

    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2025-12-12",
      "detail": "nsf's tip directorate announces the tech labs pilot — up to $1b, awards of $10–50m per year, rfi due january 20, 2026 — explicitly fro-modeled. fas interviews marblestone and rodriques the same day; the wsj calls it 'one of the most significant experiments in science funding in decades.'",
      "era": "institutionalization",
      "id": "evt-nsf-techlabs",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-ci-nsf-techlabs",
        "src-hp-nsf-techlabs-announce",
        "src-hp-samgov-rfi",
        "src-ci-fas-techlabs",
        "src-ci-wsj-techlabs"
      ],
      "title": "nsf tech labs"
    }

40. bidding on the federal version · convergent-research-timeline · 2025-12 (month) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-60bf60a776e3d5cea39f

    Original structured fields

    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2025-12",
      "detail": "convergent publishes its nsf tech labs rfi responses — on program design and translational bottlenecks — and offers to serve as an implementation partner. the incubator bids to run the federal version of itself.",
      "era": "institutionalization",
      "id": "evt-rfi-responses",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-hp-nsf-rfi-post"
      ],
      "title": "bidding on the federal version"
    }

41. the first transition · convergent-research-timeline · 2026-02 (month) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-cdff99c00a5857270b38 · source-a85a51c6019003ea07c5

    Original structured fields

    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2026-02",
      "detail": "chi-fro — at convergent 2023–2025 — transitions to the probabilistic computing foundation: the first concrete non-death outcome for a fro, and the first live test of the '.org/.gov/.com' transition doctrine. the governance and equity mechanics are undisclosed.",
      "era": "expansion",
      "id": "evt-chifro-transition",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-ci-chifro-evolution",
        "src-hp-chi-page"
      ],
      "title": "the first transition"
    }

42. meridial and echo labs · convergent-research-timeline · 2026-04-21 (day) · confirmed (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-d4c05fba63ec530ab06c · source-b9762a13b6af3fcf2e04 · source-7cd889508cec79103c5b · source-2b2ed764bf861699c621

    Original structured fields

    {
      "confidence": "confirmed",
      "date": "2026-04-21",
      "detail": "convergent and aria launch meridial (£14m initial aria award; living-brain connectivity microscopy; fisek) and echo labs (ecological intelligence; wasik, blank, tindall) in london — the first two uk fros out of the residency, and convergent's first major expansion outside the us.",
      "era": "expansion",
      "id": "evt-uk-fros",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-ci-prnewswire-uk-fros",
        "src-hp-prnewswire-uk-fros",
        "src-hp-meridial-page",
        "src-hp-echolabs-page"
      ],
      "title": "meridial and echo labs"
    }

43. mothra in nature · convergent-research-timeline · 2026-06 (month) · reported (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-29c57fb3b0d9a595b1cb · source-3f9a5ca5f2220b34b682 · source-3ebc88e397bf2e1349f0 · source-e3921c9d8f55cebbd274

    Original structured fields

    {
      "confidence": "reported",
      "date": "2026-06",
      "detail": "dragonfly's mothra array — 1,140 eyes on the cosmic web, built in chile with abraham and van dokkum, funded by alex gerko/xtx — lands a nature paper (exact date reported, not verified) plus a science news feature on its bow-shock finding. the fro portfolio reaches astrophysics.",
      "era": "expansion",
      "id": "evt-mothra",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-hp-dragonfly-page",
        "src-ci-yale-mothra",
        "src-ci-science-mothra",
        "src-ci-linkedin-dragonfly"
      ],
      "title": "mothra in nature"
    }

44. melody · convergent-research-timeline · 2026-09-07 (day) · reported (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-b108ec379aa9287693e1 · source-9b90a644a91ac878a21f

    Original structured fields

    {
      "confidence": "reported",
      "date": "2026-09-07",
      "detail": "the melody fro surfaces in pasadena — open bioelectronics for continuous molecular monitoring, founded by anand muthusamy and incubated at convergent — announced in a founder-authored roadmap post. it is not yet on the ecosystem page.",
      "era": "expansion",
      "id": "evt-melody",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-ci-melody-fro",
        "src-hp-melody-site"
      ],
      "title": "melody"
    }

45. the ledger today · convergent-research-timeline · 2026-09-16 (day) · reported (original editorial confidence)

    Original location · source-386baf425b134d7b8b6d · source-c56de388632d030913f0

    Original structured fields

    {
      "confidence": "reported",
      "date": "2026-09-16",
      "detail": "the self-reported tally: 'since 2021, we've secured almost $400m in funding from 30+ individuals and institutions to launch almost a dozen subsidiary fros.' the roster lists twelve; per-fro budgets remain undisclosed beyond the $20–50m design range.",
      "era": "expansion",
      "id": "evt-scale-today",
      "sourceIds": [
        "src-hp-convergent-about",
        "src-hp-convergent-ecosystem"
      ],
      "title": "the ledger today"
    }