Professor Giddings has worked extensively in high-energy and gravitational physics, and particularly on quantum black holes. His many works on black holes and related subjects include a popular article on the subject in Scientific American.
In 2001, he and Scott Thomas wrote the first paper exploring the possibility that quantum black holes could be produced and be very visible in LHC experiments.
He began the present work in response to public and press questions on the subject, initially collaborating with Prof. Hartle of UCSB. In the later half of 2007, he began to collaborate with Dr. Mangano of CERN, who had independently begun investigating these questions.
Professor Giddings receives grant support from the Department of Energy, and also from the Foundational Questions Institute. (Most leading US physicists in this area of physics are supported in part by either the Department of Energy or the National Science Foundation, who are the primary US supporters of high energy and particle physics. His choice to pursue this project was on his own initiative, and not at the request of the Department of Energy.)
Many prominent physicists are planning to visit CERN to participate in developments surrounding the startup of the LHC; this is viewed by many as the most exciting current development in fundamental physics. In 2006 Professor Giddings' application for a Scientific Associateship at CERN was approved, and he plans to visit CERN (together with his wife) as an Associate in the upcoming year.