Toulani Institute
From AuroraWiki
The Toulani Institute is an Antaran organization devoted to the expansion of knowledge in the atronomical, biological, earth, physical, and social/behavioral sciences. It is a scholarly organization with initiatives around the world.
Since its founding, the Institute has received funding and support from the Antaran State and has patrons in the Great Houses and upper class Clans, as well as bringing in its own funds. Among those Great House patrons are the Houses Belesarious, Durla, Umbacano, Fordring and Greyhame.
The Institute is one of the Independent Education Institutions (IEIs) of the nation. That is, institutes of higher learning independent from the Education Ministry with State sanction. It receives basic State oversight from the General Ministry.
Contents |
Overview
Establishment
"Expansion of the sum of all knowledge, for everyone's sake."
- Creed of the Toulani Institute.
The Toulani Institute was founded in 1989 by Adran Toulani, the world-famous paleontologist, who had made a name for himself unearthing and studying the bones of ancient creatures from times long past. Over his nearly sixty-year career, Adran uncovered and catalogued nearly two hundred different species of creature. Each one of the skeletons he discovered - each of a unique creature - are on display in the Toulani Gallery at Toulani One in Cedelphia.
But Adran Toulani wanted an organization that could bring together minds of many scientific fields for the sake of pure research and instruction, and he saw science and the understanding of the world around him as a way for many nations to work together.
"We are all residents of this wonderful world we call Aurora. And it will be the task of this new organization, this Institute, to work towards a better understanding of it."
- Adran Toulani, 1989
Since the days of Adran, six generations of Toulani men have led the Institute he founded, and it has expanded with every passing year. Now, the Institute works in 61 different scientific fields spanning six different categories of research and development. It is a forefront institution in the world for the expansion of the sum of knowledge for the benefit of the entire world, now and in the future.
"I am the sixth man of Clan Toulani to lead this Institute, and I will not be its last. We will continue to expand the sum of all knowledge around the world until we must expand beyond Aurora itself to learn about the greater depths of the place we call home."
- Lennox Toulani, 2119 Speech for the Toulani Research Grant Awards
Activities
The Toulani Institute is active in research and ongoing development in a vast array of scientific fields. Classes and instructional courses are also given in all of these fields The following is a list of fields of science the Institute has staff and projects connected to -
- Astronomical Sciences
- Cosmology
- Galactic Astronomy
- Planetary Geology
- Planetary Science
- Stellar Astronomy
- Biological Sciences
- Anatomy
- Biochemistry
- Botany
- Ecology
- Genetics
- Immunology
- Marine Biology
- Paleontology
- Parasitology
- Toxicology
- Zoology
- Chemical Sciences
- Alchemy
- Analytical Chemistry
- Astrochemistry
- Biochemistry
- Crystallography
- Chemical Engineering
- Geochemistry
- Materials Science
- Medicinal Chemistry
- Metallurgy
- Molecular Physics
- Nuclear Chemistry
- Organic Chemistry
- Photochemistry
- Physical Chemistry
- Earth Sciences
- Atmospheric Sciences
- Ecology
- Environmental Science
- Geography
- Geology
- Geophysics
- Glaciology
- Hydrology
- Limnology
- Mineralogy
- Oceanography
- Paleoclimatology
- Palynology
- Physical Geography
- Soil Science
- Space Science
- Physics
- Applied Physics
- Atomic Physics
- Experimental Physics
- Mechanics
- Particle Physics
- Plasma Physics
- Quantum Mechanics
- Solid Mechanics
- Theoretical Physics
- Thermodynamics
- Social & Behavioral Sciences
- Anthropology
- Archaeology
- Demography
- Geography
As a note, the only complex in the Institute that has staff and course instruction - and research - in all of these fields is Toulani One, located in Cedelphia.
Governance
Director
Since its founding, the Toulani Institute has been overseen by a descendant of Adran Toulani himself. A family tradition, the scholarly practice of the bloodline has endured through six generations.
Since being named Director on 1 January 2118, just five weeks before his 29th birthday, Doctor Lennox Toulani had already garnered a reputation for himself for his writings in the field of genetics. An accomplished researcher in his field, he has expertise in the multitude areas of interest in DNA. He was part of the team in 2115 that proved the helix structure of DNA. He is also an involved member of the famous Project Helix currently being undertaken by the State Department of Disease Control.
While not known for being active in politics, Doctor Toulani nevertheles keeps track of world politics quite closely. He is very prominent in high Antaran society, and is a frequent guest of dinners and dances the Clans and Great Houses host. He is also known for the elegant but tasteful dinner parties he tends to host. Even still, his great passion is his science, and he works to promote the Toulani agenda worlwide and study the building blocks of life.
Doctor Toulani is a Fellow of the Imperial Apothecary Society and also is a Fellow of the Imperial Society for Improvement of Natural Knowledge.
Branches
Toulani One
Cedelphia, Antaran Dominion
Also called the Home Campus, the sprawling yet comfortable and efficient Toulani One was opened within five years of the Institute itself being opened. It has been expanded on in the intervening years as need required, but always adhering to the original architectural design style. To that end, the campus has a charming Old World feel about it, blended with the popular Art Deco style interiors that are popular and favored.
Toulani One is currently the only complex of the Institute where all of its available research fields are worked in. The campus has laboratories devoted to virtually every science known. It is located on the eastern side of the Imperial Gardens.
Toulani Two
Valcarma, North Shurkan Union
Located in at the heart of the North Shurkan Union in its capital, Valcarma. This Toulani branch was the second established and is known world wide for its speciality in mathematics, physics, and theoretical physics. But the one thing that makes this branch of the Toulani Institute stand out is its Astronomical science programs, which have been ranked #2 to the (Yet to be named Shyrikist University).
Toulani Three
Alesia, Etruria
Toulani Four
Sacred Ferrucian Observatory of the Heavens, Ferrucia Isle, Canonical States
Toulani Four is the Institute's leading center for cosmology, galactic astronomy, planetary geology, planetary science, and stellar astronomy. Efforts between Toulani Four and Toulani Five in astronomy are expanding annually.
Toulani Five
Bekarion, Free Republic of Kantonia
One of the newer branches, Toulani Five is unique in that it has no one campus where all its facilities are located. Its headquarters is in the modernist Museum of the Sciences (often called the Toulani Museum) in the City Park, but it also has laboratories and research facilities at both of the city's major universities, the Colegio Real and the University of Bekarion, and offices in Bekarion's downtown.
The Kantonian Toulani branch mostly specializes in archaeology, anthropology, geology, oceanography, and various types of biology, though it hosts a wider variety of fields. As one of the closest branches to the equator, it has begun to attract astronomy researchers, though those remain in small numbers.
Toulani Six
Coronet, Epicani Dominion
Situated in the beautiful capital city of the Epicani Dominion, Toulani Six is home to some of the Institute's finest chemical research and development laboratories.
Membership
Application
Review
Advancement
Philantropy
Every year, the Toulani Institute contributes a considerable sum of money to a variety of research programs and institutions of higher learning, as well as scholarships to several deserving and accomplished students. Since the inception of its worlwide philantropy thirty years ago, the Institute had given in excess of 135,000,000 Credits to a variety of philantropic causes.
Educational Grant Program
Every year, the Toulani Institute selects ten higher learning institutions worldwide to receive a monetary grant equal to 100,000 Antaran Credits.
Research Endowment Program
Every year, the Toulani Institute selects ten research programs worldwide to receive a monetary grant equal to 100,000 Antaran Credits to further their research.
Scholarship Program
Every year between January and March, a maximum of 5,000 honors students worldwide may apply to the Toulani Institute for a place in that year's scholarship grant program. From there, a team of analysts reviews each student's application on the merits of their testing scores and course scores. In June, the Institute announces the names of approximately 100 of those 5,000 to receive a full scholarship worth approximately 25,000 Antaran Credits to attend the higher education institution of their choice.
