the $6.2 million seed funding was donated by the john templeton foundation, whose goal is to reconcile science and religion. tegmark has stated that the money came with "no strings attached"; the "boston globe" stated fqxi is run by "two well-respected researchers who say they are not religious. the institute's scientific advisory board is also filled with top scientists." critics of the john templeton foundation such as sean carroll have also stated they were satisfied that the fqxi is independent.