To add to jessriedel's comment [1], the recently established Simons Institute at Berkeley [2] is another example of what is soon becoming a top research institute in CS theory, seeded with 'just' $60 million. There are also the Kavli institutes [3], but I'm not familiar enough with them to judge. (Warning: personal opinion ahead) And then you have, on the other hand, the chronically-underfunded and academically controversial Santa Fe Institute [4].
The key, it seems, is to keep the institute mostly private and independent, but with enough links to some established research university to lend it credibility, resources, academic/peer feedback, and long-term sustainability.
Comments
To add to jessriedel's comment [1], the recently established Simons Institute at Berkeley [2] is another example of what is soon becoming a top research institute in CS theory, seeded with 'just' $60 million. There are also the Kavli institutes [3], but I'm not familiar enough with them to judge. (Warning: personal opinion ahead) And then you have, on the other hand, the chronically-underfunded and academically controversial Santa Fe Institute [4].
The key, it seems, is to keep the institute mostly private and independent, but with enough links to some established research university to lend it credibility, resources, academic/peer feedback, and long-term sustainability.
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7725377
[2] http://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/datascience/simonsaward
[3] http://www.kavlifoundation.org/institutes
[4] http://www.santafe.edu/support/the-history/emerges/