There are many ways to compare these institutes—from numbers of applications (generally in the 400 to 600 range) to annual stipend (up to $45,000 for most institutes). The report from Radcliffe’s own committee concludes with charts comparing facilities and resources of various institutes. The Institute receives about 550 applicants and offers to pay them as much as $45,000.

But Connor says the accomplishments of an institute are not quantifiable. Even more important than the books produced after a year in residence, he says, are the “fresh insights” and “new paths of inquiry” that result.

The institutes are places for quiet retreat and scholarly work, but are designed as communities as well.

While the institutes all serve the same broad purpose, each has its own unique character and goals.

For Radcliffe, part of its new identity was rooted in its past.

Drawing on Radcliffe College’s strong legacy of women’s education, a commitment to “women, gender and society” was a distinct part of the new Institute’s mission statement from the outset.

But the Institute has broader goals as well.

Unlike the other institutes for advanced study, Radcliffe does not limit itself to one particular area of expertise. Creative arts, humanities, social sciences and natural sciences intersect within the Institute.

Faust says this degree of breadth will allow the fellows to get the most out of their time at the Institute.

According to Columbia University history professor Caroline W. Bynum ’62, Faust’s leadership has been an essential part of jump-starting Radcliffe’s new incarnation.

“The real challenge to move from the old Radcliffe to a real institute for advanced study was to put it on the map in a hurry,” Bynum says.

“They couldn’t afford to wait five or ten years to build up the program,” she says. “It needed character and identifiability right away, because there’s competition out there.”

APPLYING THEMSELVES

Though institutes for advanced study and other fellowship programs are becoming an increasingly common phenomenon, gaining a spot in one of the programs remains a coveted honor.

In Princeton, the majority of the nearly 200 member spots in the Institute for Advanced Study are open by invitation only, but other institutes undergo an extensive application process to track down the best candidates.