Professor Strømme Proposes Consciousness as Foundation of Physical Reality

Professor Maria Strømme of Uppsala University introduced a novel theoretical framework in 2025, positing that consciousness is the foundational element of existence, preceding the emergence of time, space, and matter. This proposal, detailed in the scientific journal AIP Advances, fundamentally challenges conventional materialistic views of reality. The work received immediate attention, reportedly being designated the best article within its specific issue and subsequently featured on the journal's cover.

Strømme, whose established expertise is within the Nanotechnology and Functional Materials (NFM) research group at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, is making a significant conceptual transition from her typical focus on material scales to fundamental questions of cosmic structure. Her theoretical construct outlines a framework where consciousness is not an emergent property of complex biological systems, such as the brain, but rather a fundamental field that gives rise to all experiential phenomena, including the physical dimensions. The core conclusion is that the structures of time, space, and matter are subsequent manifestations arising from this primary conscious substrate.

This ambitious endeavor seeks to reconcile aspects of quantum physics with non-dualistic philosophical perspectives, a synthesis often outside mainstream physical theories. The framework includes predictions potentially testable across various scientific disciplines, lending it empirical ambition. Strømme’s work builds upon conceptual groundwork laid by earlier physicists, including Albert Einstein, Erwin Schrödinger, Werner Heisenberg, and Max Planck, whose discoveries questioned the absolute nature of physical reality.

The relevance of this proposition stems from its potential to initiate a significant paradigm shift in cosmology and metaphysics. While Strømme's established career centers on materials science, this new theory represents a deliberate expansion of inquiry into the nature of being itself. The model, formulated in mathematical language, suggests that the apparent separateness of individual consciousness is an illusion, with all experience arising from a unified, formless substrate. This offers a non-reductionist alternative in neuroscience, suggesting consciousness interacts with physical processes as a fundamental field.

The implications for scientific inquiry are vast, potentially requiring a re-evaluation of experimental design across physics and biology to account for a non-material primary cause. The framework's strength lies in its attempt to bridge these disparate fields with a unified description of perceived reality, offering a new lens through which to interpret observational data from the quantum realm to the cosmic scale.