The following disciplines, with indicated focus areas of research, have been identified for the World Institute for Advanced Study:

• Mathematical and Computational Sciences (Logic and Foundations of Mathematics, Mathematical Structures in the Unification of Physics, Mathematical Modelling, Computer Science)
• Natural Sciences (Quantum Computation and Information, Foundations of Quantum Theory, Nanoscience, Cosmology and High Energy Physics, Neuroscience, Cognitive Psychology, Molecular & Computational Biology, Evolutionary Biology)
• Philosophy (Bioethics, Indian Philosophy, Intercultural Philosophy, The Ethics of Globalization, Philosophy and Public Affairs)
• Social Sciences (Anthropology, Archaeology, Comparative History of Ideas, Neurolinguistics, Risk and Natural Disaster Research)

Distinguished Visiting Professors

• Professor Sir Roger Penrose, FRS (Wolf Prize Winner), Rouse Ball Professor Emeritus, Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford
• Professor E.C. George Sudarshan, (First winner of the TWAS Prize in Physics), University of Texas at Austin
• Professor Zhores I. Alferov, Nobel Laureate (Physics, 2000), Vice President, Russian Academy of Sciences, Ioffe Technical Institute, St. Petersburg
• Professor Anthony J. Leggett, Nobel Laureate (Physics, 2000), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign