Institute for Advanced Study facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Institute for Advanced Study

Motto	Truth and Beauty
Type	Private
Established	1930; 95 years ago (1930)
Founder	Abraham Flexner
Endowment	$784.7 million (2020)
Director	David Nirenberg
Academic staff	25 (current faculty only)
Administrative staff	26
Students	None
Location	Princeton , New Jersey , US
Campus	Suburban

The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is a special place in Princeton, New Jersey. It's a research center where brilliant thinkers study big ideas. It's known for being the academic home of famous scholars like Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer. Many of these scholars came to the United States from Europe.

The institute was started in 1930 by an American educator named Abraham Flexner. He worked with two kind people, Louis Bamberger and Caroline Bamberger Fuld, who helped fund it. Even though it's near Princeton University, the Institute for Advanced Study is completely separate. It doesn't charge any money for people to study there.

Flexner believed in seeking knowledge just for the sake of learning. The professors at the institute don't teach classes. There are no degrees given out, and no labs for experiments. Researchers are free to follow their own ideas. The institute became very important during a time when fascism in Europe was growing. It helped many smart people move from Europe to America. Because of this, it quickly became known as a top place for academic and scientific work. It still has that great reputation today.

The institute has four main areas of study, called "schools": Historical Studies, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences. It also has a program for Systems Biology, which looks at how living systems work. The institute gets all its money from donations and grants. It's one of eight math institutes in America funded by the National Science Foundation. It also inspired many other similar research centers around the world.

History of the Institute

How it Started

Abraham Flexner

Louis Bamberger

Caroline Bamberger Fuld

Oswald Veblen (around 1915)

The Institute for Advanced Study was founded in 1930. The main people involved were Abraham Flexner and the wealthy siblings Louis Bamberger and Caroline Bamberger Fuld. Flexner was very interested in education. He had even started an experimental school in 1890 that didn't have grades or exams. This school was very successful. This same idea of free learning guided him when he created the Institute for Advanced Study.

Flexner had also studied medical schools in Europe. He wanted to create a similar advanced research center in the United States. In 1929, he got a call from the Bamberger siblings. They wanted to use money from selling their department store to help New Jersey. Flexner convinced them to support a place for abstract research instead. The Bambergers wisely took their money out of the stock market just before the Wall Street Crash of 1929. This saved their funds for the institute.

A famous mathematician named Oswald Veblen from Princeton University helped Flexner. Veblen had wanted to create a high-level math research institute for a long time. He suggested putting the new institute near Princeton. This way, it would be close to a great university and library. In 1932, Veblen left Princeton to become the first professor at the new institute. He helped choose the first professors and find land for the institute in Princeton.

Flexner and Veblen worked hard to find the best mathematicians and physicists. At that time, fascism was rising in Europe. This led to anti-Jewish feelings, forcing many smart mathematicians to leave their homes. Some, like Albert Einstein and Hermann Weyl, found a new home at the IAS. Weyl agreed to come only if the institute also hired John von Neumann, a brilliant young scholar. The IAS became a safe haven for many scholars escaping Europe. Einstein was a huge success for Flexner. Soon after, James Alexander and the logic genius Kurt Gödel also joined. By 1934, six of the world's top mathematicians were leading the new institute. In 1935, Wolfgang Pauli, a pioneer in quantum physics, also became a professor. With the opening of the IAS, Princeton became the world's leading center for mathematics. It took the place of Göttingen in Germany.

The Early Years

For six years, from 1933 to 1939, the institute was located inside Princeton University. It was in Fine Hall, where Princeton's math department was. The science buildings of Princeton University are very close by. Because of this, the two places worked together informally from the start. This led to a common misunderstanding that the institute was part of the university. This idea has been hard to change.

In 1930, the Bambergers wrote to the institute's leaders. They stated that when choosing staff, professors, or students, no one should consider a person's race, religion, or gender. They strongly believed that America's best values, especially in higher learning, should not have such conditions.

However, Princeton University's policies at the time did not prevent racial discrimination. In 1937, an African-American mathematician named William S. Claytor applied to the IAS. Princeton University said they would not allow any Black person to go to the institute. It wasn't until 1939, when the institute moved into its own building, that Veblen could offer Claytor a position. But by then, Claytor turned it down.

Albert Einstein and Abraham Flexner at the IAS in 1939

Flexner had successfully brought together an amazing group of professors for the School of Mathematics, which opened in 1933. He wanted to do the same for economics and humanities, but it was harder. The School of Humanistic Studies and the School of Economics and Politics were started in 1935. All three schools, along with the director's office, moved into the new Fuld Hall in 1939. Later, the Humanistic Studies and Economics schools combined to form the School of Historical Studies in 1949. In the beginning, the School of Mathematics included physicists. A separate School of Natural Sciences wasn't created until 1966. The School of Social Science was founded in 1973.

The Institute's Purpose

Fuld Hall, built in 1939

In 1939, Abraham Flexner wrote about the purpose of the institute. He talked about James Clerk Maxwell, who studied magnetism and electricity just because he wanted to know more. These studies later led to all the electrical technology we have today. Flexner said that most great discoveries that have helped humanity were made by people who were simply curious. They weren't trying to be "useful."

The IAS's own guide, the IAS Bluebook, says:

The Institute for Advanced Study is one of the few institutions in the world where the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake is the ultimate raison d'être. Speculative research, the kind that is fundamental to the advancement of human understanding of the world of nature and of humanity, is not a product that can be made to order. Rather, like artistic creativity, it benefits from a special environment.

This belief was very important to Flexner. It still guides the institute today.

Its Impact on the World

Institute for Advanced Study campus

Since it opened, the IAS has had a huge impact on math, physics, economics, and world events. Many top awards have gone to people linked with the institute. For example, 42 out of 61 Fields Medalists (a top math award) have been connected to the IAS. Also, 34 Nobel Laureates have worked there. Since 2003, 9 out of 16 Abel Prize winners (another major math award) were IAS professors or visiting scholars. Many winners of the Cole Prize and Wolf Prize also have ties to the institute. More than 6,000 former members of the IAS now hold important positions in universities and research centers worldwide.

Important work on the idea of the stored-program computer was done at the IAS. This was led by John von Neumann. The IAS machine, built from 1942 to 1951, created the basic design for most modern digital computers. The IAS is also a top research center for string theory and M-theory. These theories were introduced by Edward Witten at the IAS in 1995. The Langlands program, a big idea that connects different areas of math, was created by Robert Langlands. He now works in Albert Einstein's old office at the institute. The IAS keeps many important papers related to the Langlands program. The institute is also a main center for homotopy type theory. This is a new way to think about the foundations of mathematics.

The institute has been home to many of the smartest people of their time. Some of them include James Waddell Alexander II, Michael Atiyah, Albert Einstein, Kurt Gödel, J. Robert Oppenheimer, John von Neumann, and Edward Witten.

Special Year Programs

Flexner's idea of learning for its own sake is shown in the "Special Year" programs at the IAS School of Mathematics. For example, in 2012–13, researchers held "A Special Year on Univalent Foundations of Mathematics." This program brought together experts in different fields of math and computer science. Their goal was to develop a new way to build the foundations of mathematics.

The program was organized by Steve Awodey, Thierry Coquand, and Vladimir Voevodsky. It led to a book on homotopy type theory. Over 30 researchers worked on this project. They said the IAS was the perfect place for this new math to grow. One researcher, Andrej Bauer, said it was amazing how a group of mathematicians worked together to write a 600-page book in less than six months. He noted the strong spirit of teamwork at the institute. The book, known as The HoTT book, is available for free online.

Other Institutes for Advanced Study

The IAS in Princeton is known as the world's first Institute for Advanced Study. It took many years for other similar places to be created. The Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford was the first in 1954. Then came the National Humanities Center in North Carolina in 1978. These two places became part of a group called "Some Institutes for Advanced Study (SIAS)." This group includes the original IAS in Princeton and nine other institutes that copied its model.

These ten Institutes for Advanced Study are:

In recent years, other institutes have been created based on the Princeton model. Some IAS professors even helped set them up. For example, in 1997, IAS professor Chen-Ning Yang helped China create the Institute for Advanced Study at Tsinghua University in Beijing. The Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies in Germany was founded in 2007. IAS director Peter Goddard gave the first speech there. IAS professors André Weil and Armand Borel also helped create strong ties with the Ramanujan Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics in India.

The famous Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques (IHÉS) in France, founded in 1958, is seen as the French version of the Princeton IAS. Princeton Institute director J. Robert Oppenheimer worked closely with IHÉS founder Léon Motchane to help start it. The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, which focuses on theoretical physics, cosmic physics, and Celtic studies, was also based on the IAS. It was the second such institute, founded in 1940.

It's important not to confuse the Princeton IAS or the SIAS group with the "Consortium of Institutes of Advanced Studies" in Great Britain and Ireland. Also, many other independent places around the world use the name "Institute for Advanced Study" or the acronym "IAS." Some of these have little to do with the original Princeton model. You can find a full list at Institute for Advanced Study (disambiguation).

Directors, Faculty, and Members

The IAS usually has about 28 very important academics who are professors for life. Even though they don't teach classes, they often give talks. They also guide the research of a larger group of younger scholars. Each year, about 190 visiting scholars from over 100 universities get fellowships to come to the institute. They stay for a term or a few years. People who want to become members must apply, and each school has its own application process.

Campus and Lands

Olden Manor

The IAS owns over 600 acres of land. Most of this land was bought between 1936 and 1945. Since 1997, the institute has protected 589 acres of woods, wetlands, and farmland. By 1936, the founders had bought 256 acres for $290,000. This included the 200-acre Olden Farm and Olden Manor. Olden Manor was the former home of William Olden. Since 1940, Olden Manor, with its large gardens, has been the home of the institute's director.

Olden Manor is a large house owned and kept up by the Institute. It's on the main campus on Olden Lane in Princeton Township. It's the main home for the Director and their family, who live there rent-free as part of their job. The Director also uses it for official events and for many meetings and conferences with professors and trustees.

Images for kids

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  View of the Institute Woods from Fuld Hall

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  The Institute Pond, created in the 1960s

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  Founders' Walk in the Institute Woods

See also

In Spanish: Instituto de Estudios Avanzados (Princeton) para niños

• List of Nobel laureates affiliated with the Institute for Advanced Study
• List of Fields medalists affiliated with the Institute for Advanced Study
• List of Cole Prize winners affiliated with the Institute for Advanced Study
• List of Wolf Prize winners affiliated with the Institute for Advanced Study
• Some Institutes for Advanced Study
• Economic and Financial Organization of the League of Nations, relocated at the IAS 1940–1946