How to make a unique research institution thrive

Research and only research, no administrative or teaching duties, total freedom, a large and dedicated support staff, a large wooded park, the ritual of tea and, everywhere, blackboards and chalk. A researcher's paradise... The Institut des hautes études scientifiques (IHES) was set up in 1958, in France, on the model of the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Princeton, on the initiative of Léon Motchane – an industrialist who became a doctor of mathematics later in life – to help stop the massive departure of French scientists to the United States. How do you attract the best researchers? How do you finance a fundamental research institute? These are the questions that the IHES has had to answer since its creation. In a fragile economy, its success is reflected in an exceptional number of Fields medals - 8 for 13 permanent professors in mathematics - a constant international appeal in an increasingly complicated context, and an incredible fertility.