Space is always a real “bread and butter” issue (or should one say a hot button issue?) at an institute for advanced study. Not only is space related to perceived prestige and power (especially when there are no titles or other honorifics on the office doors), but more importantly space is directly related to the ability to carry out research.
Within this overall context, it’s incumbent upon a director to make the hard choices on space allocation–and most importantly to put the interests of the institute (and in our case also the university) at the forefront.
For me when I make choices regarding space I consider the following factors in roughly descending order:
–overall scientific viability of the institute as a whole
–retaining our scientific talent
–preserving scientific viability of individual PI’s based on meritocracy criteria
–equity
Sometimes this results in individual and/or group unhappiness I know. Especially when, on the rare occasion, I have to change the status quo.
Jim
Discoverers and Discoveries 