INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDY - LOUIS BAMBERGER AND MRS FELIX FULD FOUNDATION CORPORATION

Their core work

The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Princeton is one of the world's most prestigious independent research institutes, providing a sanctuary for scholars at the absolute frontier of mathematics, natural sciences, and humanities — free from teaching duties or administrative obligations. It operates across four permanent schools: Mathematics, Natural Sciences, Historical Studies, and Social Science, hosting both permanent faculty and visiting scholars selected for exceptional intellectual achievement. In H2020 projects, IAS participates as a specialist partner, contributing high-level theoretical expertise — first in fundamental physics (string theory and cosmological models) and later in interdisciplinary historical science combining genetics, archaeology, and textual history. Their value to a consortium is prestige, depth of theoretical thinking, and access to a global network of elite scholars.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their earliest H2020 engagement (2018–2021), IAS contributed to fundamental theoretical physics — specifically the mathematical connections between string theory, conformal field theory, and inflationary cosmology. By 2020, the profile shifts entirely to historical and humanities-based science: migration, ethnicity, late antiquity, and the transformation of the Roman world, approached through an integration of genomics, archaeology, and historical texts. The two projects share no thematic overlap, which is characteristic of IAS's multi-school structure — different faculty from entirely different disciplines drove each engagement independently.

IAS's most recent and largest H2020 engagement is in the fast-growing field of archaeogenetics and interdisciplinary historical science, suggesting that future collaborations may arise from their School of Historical Studies, particularly on projects combining ancient DNA, migration, and early medieval European history.

How they like to work

IAS has never served as coordinator in H2020, consistently joining as a partner or third party — a pattern consistent with an elite institute that selectively lends its name and expertise to projects led by others. Their consortia are small by EU standards (12 unique partners across 5 countries in 2 projects), and their financial footprint is modest (EUR 241,512 total), suggesting their contribution is intellectual rather than operational. Working with IAS means gaining a prestigious affiliate rather than an active project manager.

IAS has worked with 12 unique consortium partners spanning 5 countries across two projects, reflecting limited but geographically distributed European engagement. Their network is shaped by individual scholar relationships rather than institutional strategy, so entry points vary by research school and visiting faculty connections.

What sets them apart

IAS Princeton is in a category of its own: an independent, non-teaching research institute ranked among the most influential scholarly institutions in the world, with alumni including Einstein, Gödel, and dozens of Fields Medal and Nobel laureates. For a consortium, IAS affiliation signals exceptional scientific quality and opens doors to a global elite scholarly network. The trade-off is that their operational involvement is light — they contribute expertise and prestige, not project management or infrastructure.

Highlights from their portfolio

• HistoGenes
  An ERC Synergy Grant — among the most competitive and prestigious EU funding instruments — integrating ancient DNA, archaeology, and medieval historical records to reconstruct population movements in post-Roman Europe, with IAS receiving EUR 241,512 as a named participant.
• InflaBoot
  Demonstrates IAS's engagement at the theoretical frontier of physics, connecting AdS/CFT duality in string theory to observable predictions about cosmic inflation — a rare example of fundamental mathematics feeding into cosmological models.