solaravus FAQ

SOLARAVUS is an independent company conducting research and education. We are based in the beautiful rural countryside of Fife, Scotland. More details on our projects can be found in the Research and Education links in the banner at the top  of the page. Much of our work is performed gratis, as our mission is "inspiring people, revealing truth" regardless of the economic status of those we seek to help. 

The origin of our company name is a well-kept secret, but we like to describe it as "originator of light" as solar refers to the sun, and avus is Latin for progenitor.

We try to share our time equally between sharing knowledge (education) and discovering new knowledge (research). We have long-running projects in both of these main areas. Our priority in education is the creation of free online tutorials covering mathematics and physics for young people all over the world; and in research we divide our efforts between highly applied research into major diseases (currently cancer, COVID-19) and conceptual research into fundamental aspects of living systems.

We are always open to new and exciting ideas that can help fulfill our mission.

As mentioned above, much of our work is performed gratis. We occasionally provide specialised research consultancy starting at a baseline rate of £100 per hour. Potential clients are welcome to enquire about services using the Contact link in the banner above. 

We are committed to sharing our products freely with everyone in the world, primarily via the internet. Our education content is freely available on YouTube. Likewise, we do not want our research outputs to be owned by private publishing companies who typically require subscriptions for users to access publications. As such, starting in 2020 we are providing our research findings in the form of "technical reports" which are written with the same level of academic rigour as journal publications, but which are available immediately to all via our website and through the CERN Open Science archive Zenodo.  

Thea was privileged to enjoy a 25-year career in academic institutions across the world, teaching students, performing research and ultimately managing university portfolios. Her work in academia was always driven by a desire to make long-lasting pedagogical and intellectual impact. In 2018 she decided a completely new environment and way of working was required to achieve this. She left a successful academic career and created SOLARAVUS. Working within an independent entity allows Thea to engage on projects that would normally be far beyond the scope of modern universities, and this is essential for her to fulfill her mission of "inspiring people, revealing truth". 

The core company is small, and the only full-time member of staff is the director, Thea Newman. However, our work is generally highly collaborative and we engage in projects through a world-wide network of scientists and science educators. Collaboration and the sharing of ideas freely and openly are fundamental to the way SOLARAVUS operates. 

Illumination is the third channel of work in SOLARAVUS, alongside education and research, and will be increasingly emphasised in the coming years.  Education is concerned with passing knowledge on to others and research involves discovering new knowledge through the scientific process. Illumination is about connecting that knowledge to our human lives, in a far deeper way than medicine and technology. This is distinct from philosophy or theology per se, but has elements of both. Illumination is the creation of links between scientific knowledge and our human life, that both informs and celebrates freedom, compassion and ultimately love.