The University of Virginia School of Medicine Division of Perceptual Studies or simply DOPS is a university-based research group devoted to the investigation of phenomena that challenge mainstream scientific paradigms regarding the nature of human consciousness; mainly they evaluate empirical evidence for exceptional human experiences and capacities that bear on whether mind and brain are distinct and separable as well as whether consciousness survives physical death, and these topics impacts on the public, and implications for scientific theory. DOPS researchers objectively document and carefully analyze data collected regarding extraordinary human experiences.