Institute for Advanced Study

Today: Welcome Day 2020

September 21, 2020 | 3:00pm

The Institute community is invited to mark the new fall term with Welcome Day 2020, a virtual event, at 3 p.m. ET on Monday, September 21, 2020.

Robbert Dijkgraaf, Institute for Advanced Study Director and Leon Levy Professor, will give a talk on the mission and history of the Institute, followed by remarks from Faculty in each of the four Schools: Suzanne Conklin Akbari (Historical Studies), Camillo De Lellis (Mathematics), Nathan Seiberg (Natural Sciences), and Alondra Nelson (Social Science). Register here.

Press Release

Peter Paret (1924–2020), Military Historian and Intellectual Beacon, Dies at 96

September 17, 2020

Peter Paret, Professor Emeritus in the School of Historical Studies, was an acclaimed cultural and intellectual historian who studied the modern historiography of war from 18th- to 20th-century Europe, as well as the relationship of art, society, and politics.

Covid-19 Updates

Campus Reopening
As of September 8, the Institute campus has partially reopened. Faculty and Members, along with a limited number of essential staff, may request access to work in their offices.

We have created a series of Return-to-Campus guides, which feature more in-depth information than shown on the website and should be consulted before coming to campus.

Individuals requesting access to campus must complete the Health Screening Form each morning before coming to campus and must be approved by the IAS Covid-19 Response Team.

To help ensure the safety of our community, we ask that you continue to wear masks or face coverings in all indoor areas on campus, including the activities center and laundry facility, and where social distancing of 6 feet is not possible.

Read more.

Video

Mapping Nearby Stars for Habitable Worlds

By Sara Seager

Sara Seager on her search (as of 2013) for expolanetary lifeforms.

In the Media

An image of Venus, made with data recorded by Japan’s Akatsuki spacecraft in 2016. So close, so similar and very mysterious, the planet is surprising scientists with a chemical signature spotted in its clouds.

Life on Venus?

September 14, 2020

The New York Times reports on papers by past Long-term Member Sara Seager and colleagues who, using large telescopes, detected phosphine in the thick atmosphere of Venus. They assert that its source is something alive.

IAS News

Ahmed Almheiri speaks on the stage at Wolfensohn Hall at the Institute for Advanced Study

IAS Scholars Win 2021 Breakthrough and New Horizons Prizes

September 10, 2020

The recipients of the 2021 Breakthrough and New Horizons Prizes include current Member Ahmed Almheiri (New Horizons Prize in Physics) and former Member Martin Hairer (Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics).

Ideas

Don’t Mess with Beethoven

Science historian Myles Jackson, Professor in the School of Historical Studies, with Joanne Lipman, IAS Distinguished Journalism Fellow, discuss why Germany has been more successful in combating Covid-19, the perils of gene patenting, and how cello playing led to his scientific pursuits.