The Ronin Institute for Independent Scholarship, commonly called just the Ronin Institute, was an independent scholarly research institute located in Montclair, New Jersey, United States. The institute was dedicated to multidisciplinary study of science and the humanities and supports the work of independent scientists and scholars.[1]
In 2012, Jon F. Wilkins, an evolutionary biologist, and former member of the Harvard Society of Fellows and Santa Fe Institute, founded the Ronin Institute in New Jersey. The institute's original mission was to aggregate "fractional scholarship" happening outside the academy by creating a new model to support independent researchers.[2]
According to its official mission, the institute remains "devoted to facilitating and promoting scholarly research outside traditional academic research institutions"[3] and providing an alternative to the traditional academic career path and tenure track appointments.[1]
The name "Ronin" derives from the legend of Rōnin: samurais who broke with the code of feudal Japan by refusing to commit suicide upon the deaths of their masters. According to Wilkins, the metaphor is analogous to scholars who leave the academy, but continue to pursue scholarly research:
The analogy is, if you're not employed by a university and you're an academic, you're supposed to say, 'Well, I'm not an academic anymore.' You're supposed to sort of commit professional suicide at that point. And what we're saying is, 'You know what? No, we can do this. We don't need a master.'[1]
As of 2024 the Ronin Institute is "no longer in operation and has officially closed its doors"[4].
Organization
The institute was governed by a board of directors with grants and financial administration and a community-level advisory board. Each member of the advisory board led a working group that focused on one essential aspect of the community: governance, communications, events, infrastructure, membership, and research.[3]
The institute had a single academic rank, the "Research Scholar", to create a more egalitarian structure. Research Scholars met virtually and in-person, with researchers from 33 countries.[2]
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