Matt Kleban, Member in the School of Natural Sciences (2003–06, 2012–13), recalls how a brief conversation at an AMIAS gathering—with Professor Emeritus in the School, Edward Witten—opened a new line of thinking in his research on string theory. AMIAS, the Association of Members of the Institute for Advanced Study, connects all accepted, current, and former IAS scholars and keeps those chance encounters alive even after a scholar's time at IAS ends.
Institute Instances is a collection of 1–2 minute video snapshots of scholars, administrators, and visitors to the Institute for Advanced Study answering a question (or two) about their work at IAS. Viewed individually, these clips allow audiences to get to know the people who are, in the words of founding IAS Director Abraham Flexner, "pushing beyond the present limits of human knowledge" through advancements in science and the humanities. Taken together, these "instances" of Institute life are designed to show how everyone can play a role in actualizing discovery, and to celebrate a community devoted to excellence in scholarship.