Scion (Crown Research Institute)

Scion, officially registered as New Zealand Forest Research Institute Limited, is a New Zealand Crown Research Institute with its primary areas of research, science and technology development being in the areas of forestry, wood products, wood-derived materials and other biomaterials sectors.

History

It originated in 1947 as part of the New Zealand Forest Service, and became a Crown Research Institute in its own right in 1992 under the name New Zealand Forest Research Institute. In 2005 the new trading name Scion was launched. The name scion is a metaphor, which according to the organisation's website, means that "All parts of the Scion organisation share the same DNA, or the forestry legacy, that was established as part of the original Forest Research Institute."

Locations

Scion's employs approximately 320 staff, with its principal campus the main part of the Te Papa Tipu Innovation Park in Rotorua. It also has an office on the campus of the University of Canterbury in Christchurch with 22 staff, as well as smaller offices in Auckland and Wellington. Also near Rotorua, Scion maintains a large area of research-forestry.

Research institute

A research institute is an establishment endowed for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often implies natural science research, there are also many research institutes in the social sciences as well, especially for sociological and historical research purposes.

Famous research institutes

In the early medieval period, several astronomical observatories were built in the Islamic world. The first of these was the 9th-century Baghdad observatory built during the time of the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun, though the most famous were the 13th-century Maragheh observatory, 15th-century Ulugh Beg Observatory.

The earliest research institute in Europe was Tycho Brahe's Uraniborg complex on the island of Hven, a 16th-century astronomical laboratory set up to make highly accurate measurements of the stars. In the United States there are numerous notable research institutes including Bell Labs, The Scripps Research Institute,Beckman Institute, and SRI International. Hughes Aircraft used a research institute structure for its organizational model.

Crown Research Institute

In New Zealand, Crown Research Institutes (CRIs) are corporatised Crown entities charged with conducting scientific research.

Crown Research Institutes date from 1992, with most formed out of parts of the former Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) and of elements of various government departments. The dissolution of the DSIR, along with the government-imposed requirement that the CRIs become "financially viable" and operate on commercial lines, created a certain amount of resentment among some scientists.

The Crown Research Institutes Act 1992 states the purpose of a CRI as carrying out research, and that each CRI must do this for the benefit of New Zealand, pursuing excellence in all that it does, abiding by ethical standards and recognising social responsibility; and operating as a good employer. A CRI must do these things whilst remaining financially viable. The technical definition of financial viability changes from time to time, but as of 2007 focused on return on equity. The State does not expect CRIs to maximise profit, but simply to cover the costs of capital. This formula aims to ensure appropriate commercial disciplines whilst fulfilling scientific purposes.

Institute

An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose.

Educational institutes

Often they are research organisations (research institutions) created to do research on specific topics. An institute can also be a professional body.

In some countries institutes can be part of a university or other institutions of higher education, either as a group of departments or an autonomous educational institution without a traditional university status such as a "university Institute". (See Institute of Technology)

The word "institute" comes from the Latin word institutum meaning "facility" or "habit"; from instituere meaning "build", "create", "raise" or "educate".

In some countries, such as South Korea and Japan, private schools are sometimes called institutes, rather than schools. In Spain secondary schools are called institutes.

Great Britain

In the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man the term "institute" is a protected word and companies or other organizations may only use the word if they are "organisations which are carrying out research at the highest level or to professional bodies of the highest standing". Furthermore, if a company is carrying on a business under a different name to the company name, that business name must comply with the Business Names Act. Use of the title "institute" requires approval from the Secretary of State. Failure to seek approval is a criminal offence.

Institute for Artist Management

The Institute for Artist Management, branded as INSTITUTE, is an artist management company, which manages some 23 creative artists. The company's head office is in Venice, California, (USA) with another office in Bath (UK).

The company was started in 2010 by Frank Evers.

References

Institute (band)

Institute was an American rock band featuring Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale. The band's only album, Distort Yourself, was released September 13, 2005.

History

Institute was formed in 2004 in the wake of a hiatus of lead singer Gavin Rossdale's other band, Bush. Rossdale formed Institute with Chris Traynor (who had previously played with bands including Bush and Helmet) after Bush agreed upon taking a break after their last album, Golden State. The two later enlisted the help of bassist Cache Tolman (of Rival Schools fame) and drummer Josh Freese. Freese was only enlisted temporarily, as the band needed a drummer for the recording of their first album, Distort Yourself. Rossdale later recruited Charlie Walker (known for his work with Split Lip and Chamberlain, in addition to a temporary stint in Helmet) to take Freese's spot and round out the band.

After reuniting with Interscope Records (Interscope released Bush's first three albums), Rossdale started work on Distort Yourself with Interscope Producer and Helmet frontman, Page Hamilton. Rossdale chose Hamilton to produce the band's debut album after being told Hamilton could provide the guitar sound that he was looking for. Though not known for producing rock ballads, Hamilton also proved keen towards Rossdale's lighter songs, such as "Ambulances", which features Gavin's wife Gwen Stefani, singer of No Doubt and successful solo artist.