FAS Negotiates 'Merger' With Science Institute

Harvard is negotiating to assume the operation of the Rowland Institute for Science, an independent research institute in Cambridge, according to Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles.

Talks surrounding the deal, which have been ongoing for many months, could lead to an agreement worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the University, according to Science magazine. The new facilities would provide a significant addition to research space now available in Cambridge.

A University administrator knowledgeable about the negotiations said that barring any unexpected delays, the deal could be closed by early in 2002. The source also said that the institute initiated the discussions.

The deal would make the institute, which has over a dozen senior researchers, a part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS). The institute already has a long-standing informal relationship with Harvard.

Harvard researchers who have worked at the institute include McKay Professor of Applied Physics Lene V. Hau and Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology Howard C. Berg.

The institute, located on Edwin H. Land Boulevard in the Kendall Square area, overlooks the Charles River. The acquisition of such a large piece of land would likely help relieve crowding in Harvard’s Cambridge-based academic departments.

“Looking ahead, I expect that Faculty from many departments in the sciences will come to be affiliated with the institute,” Knowles said.

In a statement, Knowles said, “In the coming weeks, we shall be exploring the current workings, arrangements, and activities of the institute, as we continue to discuss how best to maximize the benefits of such a merger and to use this moment to improve the support of scientific innovation in Cambridge.”

According to a researcher at the Institute, the faculty there are aware of the talks but know few details about the latest developments. Michael Burns, the institute’s director of research, could not be reached last night for comment.

Although Knowles characterizes the acquisition as a “merger,” it is unclear to what extent the University would change the institute if the deal is closed.

In his statement, Knowles said that one of the institute’s strengths is interdisciplinary research, an area that Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers has said he will promote during his tenure.

The institute was started in 1980 by Edwin H. Land, Class of 1930, who founded the Polaroid Corporation and donated the funds to build Harvard’s Science Center. Its researchers work in a wide range of fields, from molecular biology to nanoscale physics.

—Staff writer Jonathan H. Esensten can be reached at esensten@fas.harvard.edu.