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The Institute for the Scientific Study of Consciousness (ISSC) is a non-profit organization founded in 1979 by Charles Tart, [1] professor emeritus of psychology at the University of California, Davis. A pioneering figure in parapsychology and transpersonal psychology, Tart created the ISSC to conduct scientific research on consciousness and altered states of consciousness. [2]
During its early years, and under Tart’s leadership, the ISSC focused on experimental research into out-of-body experiences and extrasensory perception (ESP). In 1982, the Institute, in collaboration with the University of California, Davis, developed a computer-controlled ESP feedback training system. [3] [4] [5]
One of Tart’s most notable initiatives at ISSC was the creation of the "Archives of Scientists' Transcendent Experiences" (TASTE), the world’s first online repository of self-reported transcendent experiences by scientists. These personal accounts—spiritual, mystical, or paranormal in nature—were collected in a confidential, optionally anonymous, and carefully curated environment. Contributors included scientists from fields such as anthropology, botany, mathematics, physics, psychology, and zoology, many of whom feared professional backlash if they shared these experiences in public forums. [6] [7] [8]
By the early 2000s, the Institute entered a new chapter under the leadership of pediatrician and near-death experience researcher Melvin L. Morse, who joined as Research Director in 2004 following a twenty-year medical career. Two years later, he assumed the role of President. Under his guidance, the ISSC broadened its research scope to include studies on children's near-death experiences, childhood leukemia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), random number generation, and alternative therapies such as reiki and kundalini meditation. [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]
In 2010, the Journal of Near-Death Studies published Morse’s article “Near-death experiences, deathbed visions, and past-life memories: A convergence in support of van Lommel’s Consciousness beyond life.” [14]
In 2011, Morse was among the recipients of the Warcollier Research Award from the International Remote Viewing Association (IRVA) and the Institute for Resonance and Intuition Studies (IRIS). [15]
In 2023, the ISSC research team led by Morse was named one of the winners of the BICS Challenge research program, sponsored by the Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies to explore evidence of the survival of human consciousness after death. Together with the ISSC research team, including Raymond Moody, José Miguel Gaona, AJ Parr, Isabelle Chauffeton Saavedra, and Lance Williams Beem, Morse oversaw a nine-month study to support research into both the survival of human consciousness after physical death and the nature of the afterlife. The project, titled “An Investigation into the Current Status of the Spiritual Progress of Humanity as Ascertained by Interviewing Nineteen Mediums,” addressed four interrelated existential questions concerning the afterlife and the present state of mankind. [16]