The flexible structure of the fellowship program creates the opportunity for things outside the norm, such as breakfast meetings and informal collaboration, Randall says.

And though Radcliffe is just beginning to emphasize science, fellows say this year’s cluster was a promising start.

“I don’t feel like I’m on the periphery. I feel like it’s all happening here,” Bousso says.

“On one hand Radcliffe offered the proximity to one of the best groups in my field, and they are offering me that in an unusual setting so that we have a life line to other kinds of people,” he says.

In Harvard’s Sphere

But the influence of Radcliffe fellows extends beyond the gates of Radcliffe Yard.

Randall’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences connections facilitated frequent interactions between the fellows and Harvard’s department of physics. And the cluster’s cosmology focus benefited the department as well.

“Cosmology is not overemphasized at the physics department—this cluster fills a gap there,” Bousso says.

In recent years, interest in cosmology has skyrocketed, according to Andrew Strominger, director of graduate studies in the physics department.

And with the new science cluster, he says, “there was some notion of fortifying things in that direction.”

Radcliffe’s science fellows also work closely with the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences.

“It has created a little bit of energy in this area,” says Daniel P. Schrag, the department’s director of graduate studies. “This group has catalyzed interactions across the department.”

And the group’s combination of cosmology, astrophysics and planetary science experts has helped to create stronger links between these disciplines, Schrag says.

This close collaboration with FAS scientists was something Randall and Radcliffe Dean of Science Barbara J. Grosz had in mind when they first recruited this cluster’s participants to Radcliffe—and something they hope to continue with future fellowships.

A Critical Mass