According to Rudenstine, the new Institute'sclosest parallel will be the Princeton Institutefor Advanced Study, an independent researchorganization located near Princeton University,but not officially affiliated with the school.

Founded in 1930, the Princeton Instituteinvites scholars in fields as wide-ranging ashistory and physics to engage in pure research forone to two years.

"What ties the broad range of research workthat's done here together is that every individualpursues scholarship and pure research for its ownsake, and follows his own research interests,"said Georgia Widen, public affair officer for theInstitute. "There isn't any concern whatsoever forapplications. No one is ever asked what is goingto be the practical effect of their work."

Widen said the institute is a "scholarlyparadise" at which intellectuals, frequentlyvisiting professors, are given a year without thedemands of classroom or committee work to focus onresearch.

She called the new Radcliffe Institute "the newkid on the block," nothing that her institute isso well-known in academic circles that it is knownsimply as the institute for Advanced Study-nogeographical location required.

But the advantages of the new RadcliffeInstitute-including a starting endowment just $60million less than that of the Princeton instituteand official ties to Harvard's vast resources andrenewed faculty-may send the New Jersey school'sprospective scholars scurrying to spendsabbaticals in Cambridge instead.

At least one Princeton Institute faculty memberwhose research focuses on gender said she's notconcerned, however.

"We get 200 application for 17 places a year,"said Professor of Social Science Joan W. Scott ofthe School of Social Science at the PrincetonInstitute. "We could take twice or three times asmany every year who are just as good. All this cando is add to the still scarce researches thatsupport research outside of teaching."

And Scott said she feels binding a researchinstitute to the resources of university will addlittle.

"I don't see that that makes any difference oneway or another, "she said. "It presumes that peoplewho have a year of leave want to spend a yeartalking to a lot of people, which they don'tnecessarily."

According to Scott, all a researcher reallyneeds is "a good library or a good inter-libraryloan system."

The New Jersey institute also has a smallpermanent faculty who work alongside theinstitute's approximately 180 visiting scholars,which Scott said sets it apart from the newRadcliffe Institute. Permanent faculty membersreceive a lifetime appointment at the institute,and stay for an estimated 20 to 30 years. Facultymembers, whose ranks have included AlbertEinstein, tend to be world renewed scholars intheir fields.

"[Radcliffe] won't ever be the same, "Scottsaid. She called Rottenstone's comparison simply"wrong." "We have faculty, "she said. "We're theonly institute of its kind that has a faculty."

Fox said that members of the Faculty Councilyesterday made note of the fact that the RadcliffeInstitute will have no permanent faculty.

The Place of Gender