--- title: 'The Big Bang Theory' to Fund UCLA Science Scholarship description: $4 million will help needy students supplement their financial aid canonical: https://time.com/3902406/big-bang-theory-ucla-scholarship/ author: Charlotte Alter article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-30T14:10:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:59:05.391Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: 'The Big Bang Theory' to Fund UCLA Scholarship for Science Students og:description: $4 million will help needy students supplement their financial aid og:url: https://time.com/3902406/big-bang-theory-ucla-scholarship/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8735a3955a55a3c8/6988524b524fc041b4df2de3/big-bang-theory.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: The Big Bang Theory og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'The Big Bang Theory' to Fund UCLA Scholarship for Science Students twitter:description: $4 million will help needy students supplement their financial aid twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8735a3955a55a3c8/6988524b524fc041b4df2de3/big-bang-theory.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _The Big Bang Theory_ to Fund UCLA Scholarship for Science Students > Sponsored content. 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Michael Yarish—CBS/Getty Images  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent May 30, 2015 2:10 PM UTC _The Big Bang Theory_ is about fictional scientists, but now the show is funding a scholarship for real-life science students. The Big Bang Theory Scholarship Endowment has already raised $4 million to support undergraduate students at UCLA who are studying the sciences. Starting in the fall, 20 Big Bang Theory grants will be awarded to UCLA science students who have gotten in on academic merit but need extra support to supplement their financial aid, according to a [UCLA statement. ](http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/the-big-bang-theory-creates-scholarship-fund-for-stem-students-at-ucla)Every year, five more students will be added. Chuck Lorre, _The Big Bang Theory_ co-creator and executive producer, is mostly funding the endowment, with help from show co-stars like Jim Parsons, Simon Helberg, Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting, Mayim Bialik and Johnny Galecki, and with contributions from Warner Bros. and CBS, the Los Angeles _Times_ [reports. ](http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-ln-ucla-big-bang-20150528-story.html)This is the first UCLA scholarship from the cast and crew of a TV series. “We have all been given a gift with ‘The Big Bang Theory,’ a show that’s not only based in the scientific community, but also enthusiastically supported by that same community. This is our opportunity to give back,” Lorre said in a [statement.](http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/the-big-bang-theory-creates-scholarship-fund-for-stem-students-at-ucla) “In that spirit, our Big Bang family has made a meaningful contribution, and together we’ll share in the support of these future scholars, scientists and leaders.” The first group of scholars will be announced on the set of _The Big Bang Theory_ this fall. ## Transcript >> Hi. I'm Jeffrey Kluger for TIME and we're here today to ask questions of Stephen Hawking, perhaps the world's best known living cosmologist, physicist and mathematician. Hawking is known as much for the body of his work as for the obstacles he's had to overcome to conduct that work. Ill with ALS or a Lou Gehrig's Disease since 1962, Hawking has been confined to a wheelchair and has been fully paralyzed for several decades. That hasn't stopped him however from producing six popular science books including the recently released, The Grand Design and two children's books written with his daughter Lucy. We sent your questions to Dr. Hawking three weeks in advance and in that time. He assembled his answers one letter at a time by computer and then expressed them through a voice synthesis system. Stephen Hawking will now take your questions. We have a question from Stanford Connecticut. " If somehow you could say something to Albert Einstein, what would you say? >> I would ask him why he didn't believe in black holes. The field equation of his generation theory of relativity implies that a large star or a cloud of gas would collapse in on itself and form a black hole. Einstein was aware of this. But somehow managed to convinced himself that something like an explosion would always occur to throw off mass and prevent the formation of a black hole. What if there was no explosion? >> Do you think our civilization will survive long enough to make the leap to deeper space? >> I think we have a good chance of surviving long enough to call [ unk ] solar system. However, there is nowhere else in the solar system, anything like as suitable as the earth, so it is not clear if we would survive if the earth was made unfit for habitation. To insure our law in terms survival, we need to reach the stars. That will take much longer. Let's hope we can last until then. >> Do you feel that your physical limitations have helped or hindered your study? >> Although I was unfortunate enough to get motor neuron disease, I have been very fortunate in almost everything else. I was lucky to be working in theoretical physics, one of the few areas in which disability was not a serious handicap and to had neglected with my popular books. >> What scientific discovery or technological advancement would you like to see realized in your lifetime? >> I would like nuclear fusion to become a practical power source. It would provide an exhaustible supply of energy without pollution or global warming. >> I guess everyone here will be asking you questions about the deepest mysteries of the Universe, so I will ask something more mundane. What is your favorite memory? >> It was when I visited Antarctica 1997. The Chilean Air Force flew a group of theoretical physicists down to their base on King George's Island off the Antarctica Peninsula. My wheelchair didn't-- has no change but they took me round on a snow mobile. >> Does the Universe end? If so, what is beyond it? >> Observations indicate that the Universe is expanding at another increasing rate. It will expand forever getting emptier and darker. All those, the universe doesn't have an end and a beginning of the Bing Bang. One might asks what is before that. But the answer is that there is nowhere before the Bing Bang, and thus has there is nowhere south of the south pole. >> Does it feel like a huge responsibility to have people expecting you to have all the answers to all of life's mysteries? >> I certainly don't have the answers to all the life's problems. While Physics and Mathematics may tell us how the Universe began, they are not much use in predicting human behavior, because they are far too many equations to solve. 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