Radcliffe Institute for Independent Study was founded in 1961 by the then-president of Radcliffe College, Mary Bunting. The institute provided stipends as well as access to all of the resources of Harvard University to take up their chosen creative intellectual studies. The initial funding for the institute came from the Carnegie and Rockefeller Foundations. The institute was renamed the Bunting Institute in 1978; its grants supported women pursuing advanced degrees.

The current institute