As the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study awaits the appointment of its first permanent dean, the Institute is taking steps to centralize its four research branches and streamline its fellowship application process.

In their continued effort to make Radcliffe a world-renowned research institution, Institute officials said they hope to convert a large portion of the Cronkhite Graduate Center to office space and living quarters for Radcliffe fellows.

The decision comes as Radcliffe expects to host and fully fund 56 research fellows in the coming year--more than double this year's number.

"We will have 56 new fellows coming next year, and that's going to be a regular occurrence every year," said Radcliffe spokesperson Michael A. Armini. "Being able to house these fellows as close to [Radcliffe Yard] as possible is a real priority."

Radcliffe administrators met earlier this month with graduate students who live in Cronkhite, bracing them for the likely possibility that as many as 70 dorm rooms will be converted into space specifically for the Institute's use as soon as this summer.

Once Cronkhite is renovated, administrators say they will bring the Bunting Fellowship Program--long housed several blocks from Radcliffe Yard on Concord Avenue--closer to the core of Radcliffe, thereby centralizing fellows and solidifying the Institute as an academic community.

Radcliffe also expects to utilize Byerly Hall when the Faculty of Arts and Sciences' Office of Admissions and Financial Aid vacates the building in 2006, the year its lease expires.

Acting Dean of the Institute Mary Maples Dunn said the Institute will definitely use the space, but Radcliffe officials say they do not yet have a clear purpose for the building in mind.