International initiatives launched with scholars, research funding

Princeton has launched two programs to expand international teaching and ­research in the 2009–10 academic year. The University selected three visiting professors to hold multiyear appointments in the Global Scholars program and awarded six three-year grants, ranging from $32,000 to $225,000, to current faculty members through the Global Collaborative Research Fund.  

Both initiatives aim to build “transnational networks” of faculty and students, ­according to history professor Jeremy Adelman, the director of the Council for ­International Teaching and Research.  

While several top research institutions have established satellite campuses abroad, Princeton is “investing in people, rather than physical infrastructure,” ­Adelman said.  

Each of the Global Scholars is a leader in his field: Historian Ge Zhaoguang of Fudan University in Shanghai specializes in medieval Chinese religion and history; astrophysicist Yasushi Suto of the University of Tokyo is both a top theorist and a collaborator in large observational projects, including the Sloan Digital Sky Survey; and electrical engineer Takao Someya, also from the University of Tokyo, is the world’s leading expert in large-area organic electronics and circuits.  

The scholars will spend parts of three years teaching at Princeton. By traveling back and forth, Adelman said, they will help build connections between Princeton and their home institutions.