Some Some of the world’s greatest centres for knowledge creation have been built on endowments. In the case of institutes—which unlike universities cannot rely on tuition fees and government core funding—these have been transformative. The legacy of the BlackBerry company is the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. The Institute for Advanced Study rests on the generosity of the Bamberger family, who laid down an endowment of $5m in 1930.

Europe’s first endowed university posts were created in England at the end of the 15th century. That was when Lady Margaret Beaufort, the mother of Henry VII (shown above), established a pair of professorships in divinity at Oxford and Cambridge. A few decades later, Henry VIII followed her lead when he endowed five Regius Professorships at each of the two universities. All twelve of these chairs exist today.

As well as providing income in perpetuity, an endowment offers two other benefits. First, it reduces the volatility associated with the high-value but low-probability grants and gifts that make up most of our income. Second, it frees up our scientists and staff to focus on discovery and communication instead of fundraising.

Three kinds of endowment

£5m endowed Chair

Originally, chairs were synonymous with professorships, with the holder of the post “professing” from a seated position. In recent times, a chair has become an accolade, given to faculty who have distinguished themselves in research and leadership to a conspicuous degree.

London Institute Chairs are awarded to new or existing Fellows in recognition of world-class work. The competitive salary made possible by the endowment, along with the scarcity of endowed chairs, especially in this country, help the Institute attract and retain the world’s top talent.

£4m endowed Fellowship

Senior members of the Oxford and Cambridge Colleges have been known as “fellows” (“socii”) since at least the 14th century. As well as their dedication to scholastic pursuits, they are also committed to collegiality—a tradition maintained by the members of our Institute.

London Institute Fellowships are open-ended posts for exceptional researchers, comparable to a professorship in America. The Institute’s focus on full-time research, expert help and peak performance give scientists the freedom and support to do what they do best: make fundamental discoveries.

£2.5m endowed Junior Fellowship

Almost all jobs for early-stage researchers are postdocs, meaning they are hired to work on a topic set by their supervisor. Yet for the most talented young scientists, the freedom to follow their curiosity can unleash their passion, leading to the most transformative breakthroughs.

Junior Fellowships offer young researchers a rare opportunity to pursue research on a subject of their choosing in the years after their PhD. These three-year posts are modelled on the Junior Research Fellowships at Oxford and Cambridge and the Society of Fellows at Harvard.

Publicising the posts

Thanks to our in-house writers and contacts in the press, we have a strong record of placing articles in the press to advance our mission, advertise our posts and show gratitude to our donors. For example, The Times published an interview of Talulah Riley to mark her joining our board of Trustees. To recognise the support of the Khodorkovsky Foundation, as well as advertise our posts funded by them, we ran pieces in The Times and The Spectator and a two-page interview of Mikhail Khodorkovsky in The Times. We will take a similar approach to publicising newly endowed posts and recognising their donors.

Budget

Each endowment covers the direct costs and the support costs associated with the post, assuming a five percent return on endowment, in real terms.

Our direct costs are the salary plus 25 per cent, which includes National Insurance, statutory pension, travel, computing and publication fees. Our support costs are equal to the direct costs for the first £100k, plus half of any direct costs in excess of this. They cover rent for our offices and public rooms, our team of support staff, and our communications crew.

Of the principal amount laid down for each post, we use five per cent of it upfront to publicise the post and cover the first year, and ringfence 95 per cent as an endowment in perpetuity. The cost of our endowed chair is comparable to chairs at other leading research organisations, although ours is not subsidised by student fees or, in Britain, government core funding via the Research Excellence Framework.

Lasting impact

Originally inspired by a benefactor’s concern for their immortal soul, an endowment was always designed to endure—a protected gift, whose interest alone supports the position it creates. It remains the best way to ensure a lasting impact in science. An endowed post maintains itself in perpetuity, while providing an unbroken sequence of talented researchers with the opportunity to make fundamental discoveries.

To learn more about setting up an endowment at the London Institute, contact our Director of Development, Sarah Myers Cornaby, at smc@lims.ac.uk.