"What ties the broad range of research work that's done here together is that every individual pursues scholarship and pure research for its own sake, and follows his own research interests," said Georgia Widden, public affairs officer for the institute. "There isn't any concern whatsoever for applications. No one is ever asked what is going to be the practical effect of their work."

Widden said the institute is a "scholarly paradise" at which intellectuals, frequently visiting professors from colleges and universities, are given a year without the demands of classroom or committee work to focus simply on research.

She called the new Radcliffe Institute "the new kid on the block," noting that her institute is so well-known in academic circles that it is known simply as the Institute for Advanced Study--no geographical location required.

But the advantages of the new Radcliffe Institute--including a starting endowment just $60 million less than that of the Princeton institute and official ties to Harvard's vast resources and renowned faculty--may send the New Jersey school's prospective scholars scurrying to spend sabbaticals in Cambridge instead.

At least one Princeton Institute faculty member whose research focuses on gender said she's not concerned, however.

"We get 200 applications for 17 places a year," said Professor of Social Science Joan W. Scott of the School of Social Science at the Princeton Institute. "We could take twice or three times as many every year who are just as good. All this can do is add to the still scarce researches that support research outside of teaching."

And Scott said she feels binding a research institute to the resources of university will add little.

"I don't see that that makes any difference one way or another," she said. "It presumes that people who have a year of leave want to spend a year talking to a lot of people, which they don't necessarily."