Great Project

The Great Projects were three artificial societies created by the Empire to perform intensive research in particular areas. Each Project had one or more entire worlds committed to its work. In order of creation, they were: Each of the Great Projects still exists in some form: Projects Proteron and Za'lek went on to become Great Houses of the Empire, while members of Project Thurion established a secret state, after that Project was terminated by the Empire.
 * Project Proteron, devoted to the social sciences, with the goal of developing the future government and social structures of the Empire.
 * Project Za'lek, devoted to the physical and applied sciences (and later to virtually every scientific endeavour), tasked with advancing the Empire's technology and knowledge.
 * Project Thurion, the secret third Project, blending genetic and cybernetic research to improve on the human species itself.