This FAQ contains answers to some common questions. It is a simplified guide. In case of any conflict, the RIIS 2.0 Bylaws and adopted policies (Affiliation Terms of Service, Code of Conduct, Belonging Policy, Privacy Policy, Conflict Resolution Policy) govern.

About us

What is RIIS 2.0?

RIIS 2.0 is a California nonprofit public benefit corporation organized under IRS Section 501(c)(3). Its mission is to support and facilitate the execution and dissemination of scholarly research in the public interest. RIIS 2.0 builds on the values of truth, empathy, belonging, and open scholarship, offering independent scholars a community outside traditional academia.

What fields does RIIS 2.0 represent?

All of them! Our Research Scholars hail from all across the academic spectrum, from physics to biology to history to philosophy to modern dance and ceramics.

Do you have departments?

No. Many of our Research Scholars decided to pursue independent scholarship specifically because their research interests did not align well with a traditional academic department. As our numbers grow, so do our “affinity groups,” which are groups of Research Scholars with overlapping and complementary interests. Unlike departments, these labels are descriptive, not prescriptive.

Does RIIS 2.0 support research grant administration?

Not at the moment, since with our limited resources, we are currently focused on getting the initial institute off the ground and running sustainably.

Does RIIS 2.0 have a library?

Unfortunately, no. Access to library resources remains one of the most significant challenges to the independent scholar. Access to most paid library resources, such as databases and paywalled journals, far exceeds the resources of many smaller institutions, including RIIS 2.0.

Affiliation

How can I join RIIS 2.0 as an Affiliate?

We currently have one Affiliate status at RIIS 2.0: Fellow (Fellows also have the title Research Scholar). To become a Fellow:

  1. Review our eligibility requirements, below.
  2. Join our update mailing list where we will announce applications and provide links to the join form.
  3. Attend an event! We also strongly encourage applicants, especially those who are new to the RIIS 2.0 community, to attend RIIS 2.0 event before applying to get a sense of what RIIS 2.0 is all about
  4. Once your application is approved (see below for the process), there are annual membership dues of $100 USD (at the time of writing).

If you have other questions about the process, contact us directly at .

What are the eligibility requirements for being a RIIS 2.0 Affiliate?
  • Minimum academic standard: Must demonstrate academic achievement and scholarly commitment equivalent to at least one year of study at an accredited university
  • Scholarly intent: Must be actively pursuing academic scholarship.
  • Age requirement: Must be 18 years or older
  • Good standing: Must not have been denied or removed from RIIS 2.0 or a similar research institute previously
  • Submit an application, which is reviewed by the Affiliation Working Group (see below), which then makes a recommendation to the Council. Each application is reviewed by at least two members of the Working Group.
  • Agree to and sign the Affiliation Agreement, which includes:
What happens after I submit my application?
  • You will first receive an automated reply with a copy of your electronically signed agreement, typically within minutes (please also check your spam folder, just in case it was misidentified).
  • It will take us a month or so (hopefully faster!) to review your application. Once your application is approved, we will send information about how to pay membership dues.
  • Once payment has been received, you will receive your official welcome email.
Why are you charging membership dues?

RIIS 2.0 charges membership dues for Fellows to ensure organizational sustainability and member accountability, while preserving the nonprofit’s mission of supporting independent scholarship. This rationale is grounded in both practical needs and governance principles, as reflected in RIIS 2.0’s bylaws and policies. Maintaining RIIS 2.0 costs money, including:

  • Website hosting and digital platforms (e.g., Zoom, domain name, email, file storage)
  • State and federal incorporation and annual compliance fees
  • Insurance
  • Legal services
  • Accounting services

In alignment with our Belonging Policy and our commitment to equitable access to scholarship, we plan to soon have ways that affiliates (especially those from World Bank-defined Low & Middle Income countries) can join at a discounted or subsidized rate. In the previous NJ-based Ronin Institute, some of these costs (such as digital platforms) were paid directly by members of that Board, and thus, affiliates were heavily subsidised.

What benefits will I gain as a member?

Most importantly, you will have voting rights as a Fellow and a say in the type of institute that RIIS 2.0 becomes, having an impact on the future of independent scholarship and its role in greater society. You will be able to use “Ronin Institute for Independent Scholarship 2.0 (RIIS 2.0)” as an affiliation on any of your academic work, including papers, proposals, presentations, signatures, etc., but RIIS 2.0 does not endorse individual work; responsibility for content rests with the author. You will also be connected with other RIIS 2.0. research scholars to be part of a community where we can exchange and share knowledge, through our new RIIS 2.0 Discord workspace and community events (mostly online).

We hope to be able to offer forwarding email addresses to Fellows fairly soon, which would allow inbound mail to your personal email. As we are still a very new institute, we will be relying on our inaugural members to create the other benefits we hope to offer. Please join us as an Affiliate to help us build RIIS 2.0 and figure out what these will be!

Do Affiliates have different ranks?

No. When you join RIIS 2.0 as a dues-paying member, you are designated a Fellow with full membership voting and participation rights. Non-dues-paying Associates may attend community events and working groups, but are non-voting and do not vote in Council or Fellowship decisions. All Affiliates also have the title “Research Scholar”.

Do Affiliates hold other academic affiliations?

Yes, in some cases they do. Research Scholars can hold dual (or multiple) affiliations with traditional academic/research institutions, or with other research organizations (like IGDORE). Holding multiple affiliations is consistent with our mission: facilitating scholarship in whatever mode works best for each individual Research Scholar. In many cases, holding a traditional academic or other research institute appointment alongside their Research Scholar position may be the best way for a scholar to support their research.

How do I use this affiliation, for example, in a publication?

We recommend using the full legal name as your affiliation, e.g.

        Your Name, Ronin Institute for Independent Scholarship 2.0

If  this is too long, or if an abbreviation is permitted, the following are acceptable alternatives:

        Ronin Institute (RIIS 2.0)
        RIIS 2.0

We strongly advise against using “Ronin Institute" without qualification, to avoid confusion with the former NJ-based organization. If an affiliation requires a physical address, please use the city, state, and zip code form (do not use the street, most journals no longer require street information):

        Sacramento, CA 95816 USA

If the journal or organization insists on including the street, you can use the full legal address, but we advise against routinely including the street information, unless absolutely necessary:

        2108 N St STE N, Sacramento, CA 95816 USA

What if my work requires large equipment or lab space?

RIIS 2.0 does not possess physical lab space. Some Research Scholars whose work involves laboratory-based experiments also have an affiliation with a university or research institution with those facilities. Others work with collaborators who have access to lab space. In certain metropolitan areas, there are now also facilities where you can rent access to lab equipment on a short-term basis (e.g., bio-hacker spaces).

Governance

How is RIIS 2.0 governed?

RIIS 2.0 is governed by a Council consisting of a minimum of six Fellows that is elected by the Fellows, according to the Bylaws. In addition, Working Groups advise the Council and help run key aspects of RIIS 2.0, but ultimate responsibility resides with the Council. Since the organization was only just created, it does not yet have an elected Council, but an Interim Council (see question, below) is serving until the first Council election.

Who is on the Interim Council?

The RIIS 2.0 Interim Council consists of  the following Fellows:

  • Carolyn Sealfon (Interim Chair)
  • Jovita De Loatch (Interim Deputy Chair)
  • Ruth Duerr (Interim Treasurer)
  • Alex Lancaster (Interim Deputy Treasurer)
  • Rami Saydjari (Interim Secretary)
  • Elena Fujiwara (Interim Deputy Secretary)

This Interim Council is expected to serve only until the elected Council is seated, following the first Council elections.

What is a Working Group?

A Working Group (WG) consists of a group of Fellows (including at least one Council member) in good standing. Working Groups advise the Council and help run key aspects of RIIS 2.0, but ultimate responsibility resides with the Council. We are in the process of creating several standing Working Groups. At the moment, we have an Affiliation Working Group (which handles applications for affiliation and overall membership policy), a Research Working Group (which handles issues related to research), and we are in the process of creating Infrastructure and Financial Working Groups. All WGs are volunteer and run by Fellows; there is no separate paid administrative staff. Working Groups are open to any Fellow willing to commit to helping run that key aspect of the organization.

Who is on the Affiliation Working Group?

Current members of the Affiliation Working Group are Jovita De Loatch, Carolyn Sealfon, Alex Lancaster, Rami Saydjari, and Arika Virapongse.

Who makes administrative decisions and who makes scholarly/academic decisions at RIIS 2.0?

Fellows do both! RIIS 2.0 consists only of Fellows, i.e., Research Scholars. Fellows thus comprise both the administration (via the Council and Working Groups) and are all scholars themselves. RIIS 2.0 is completely self-governed and currently self-funded (via membership dues).  There is currently no separate paid staff.

Decision-making

How are decisions made?

Decision-making is documented in Council minutes and working group notes. RIIS 2.0 follows a consensus approach to decision-making, which ensures that minority views are respected and that decisions reflect broad agreement..

How are RIIS 2.0 Council elections conducted?

Elections are governed by the RIIS 2.0 bylaws. The Volunteer Coordination Working Group (VCWG) administers the process. Candidates may be nominated by Fellows in good standing and have at least one year of Fellowship or comparable leadership experience. A slate is developed for representation, but additional nominations are allowed. Voting is electronic, using a secure, anonymous platform.

How are votes made electronically?

Votes may be taken live during meetings, asynchronously over a fourteen-day window, or by other secure methods. All votes must meet the quorum and are recorded for transparency.

Background and history

What is the relationship between the former New Jersey-based Ronin Institute and the new RIIS 2.0?

The Ronin Institute for Independent Scholarship 2.0 (RIIS 2.0) is an entirely new legal entity with completely new leadership and not a continuation of the former New Jersey-based Ronin Institute. While we were able to purchase and reuse the old domain name of ronininstitute.org, RIIS 2.0 is a new, independent nonprofit that carries forward the spirit of independent scholarship fostered by the former Ronin Institute, but with a distinct governance structure, legal status, and institutional direction. It is not a legal successor, but rather a community-led reinvention of the original mission — with an effort to be more inclusive, transparent, and sustainable.

  • Ronin Institute for Independent Scholarship 2.0 (RIIS 2.0) is a California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation, recognized as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. It was incorporated on 2025/04/23 under EIN 33-4776448.
  • The original Ronin Institute was a New Jersey-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that is now defunct, having ceased operations in September 2024 and relinquished or shut down key infrastructure (e.g., Slack, email, and website hosting) and finances.
  • There is no legal continuity between the two entities. RIIS 2.0 has its own Articles of Incorporation, bylaws, EIN, and a governing Council. For this reason, if you have issues you need addressed with the now dissolved New Jersey-based Ronin Institute, we are unable to address them and encourage you to seek qualified legal advice.
Do Research Scholars of the former NJ-based Institute automatically become Affiliates of RIIS 2.0?

Research Scholars of the former Ronin Institute do not automatically become Fellows of RIIS 2.0, as there is no legal continuity between the organizations (see previous question) and all new Fellows need to agree to new policies and pay dues. However, the process of joining RIIS 2.0 for previous Research Scholars should be straightforward and similar to the old process that existed at the time of dissolution.

How did RIIS 2.0 form?
  • Bylaws group: A group of Research Scholars, who were not connected to the Board of Directors of the now-dissolved NJ-based Ronin Institute, formed a bylaws group to explore creating a new set of bylaws that could be the basis of either a continuation of the old Ronin Institute or a new organization for Research Scholars. The group was open to any former member. Meetings were open to all former members of the now-dissolved NJ-based Ronin Institute and colleagues, and all discussions were reported in the bylaws group meeting notes. 
  • Survey conducted: The by-laws group also developed a survey that was sent out to previous Ronin Scholars in early November 2024. The summary of the results of the survey were released as part of a presentation by Ruth Duerr in January 2025 (Due to GDPR privacy rules, we can not share the raw results of the survey since it captured personally identifiable information.) In late 2024, the NJ-based organization legally dissolved itself, leaving the creation of a new organization as the only path forward.
  • By-laws drafting: After a lengthy drafting period between November 2024 and March 2025, where any volunteer was welcome to comment on the evolving documents, and after a review of the documents by pro-bono lawyers, the by-laws were deemed to be ready. The bylaws were drafted by a working group of volunteers, with contributions from the current Interim Council, including Ruth Duerr, Rami Saydjari, J De Loatch, Carolyn Sealfon, Alex Lancaster, Elena Fujiwara, and many former Ronin Institute Research Scholars, including Herbert J Bernstein, Arika Virapongse, Daniel Mietchen, Allan Tameshtit, Nick Jackson, Keith Tse, John Larocco, Jorrit Poelen, Tom Buckholtz, Anne Thessen, Rebecca Koskela, and Laure Haak, to whom we owe many thanks.
  • Only those who directly participated in drafting the final version are formally listed, but all feedback was considered. The drafts of the bylaws are available online, and the approved are available in the Records site.
  • Incorporation: In late March of 2025, the by-laws group moved forward with creating a new legal entity with an Interim Council consisting of six volunteers who were regular contributors to the by-laws group. On 22 April 2025, RIIS 2.0 came into existence by filing for incorporation with the State of California, and the bylaws group was dissolved. A new document repository was established for RIIS 2.0, and the work of the bylaws group was archived.
  • After Incorporation: a set of onboarding policies, Belonging, Code of Conduct, Terms of Service, and Privacy were developed so that Fellows could be onboarded with legal protections for the Fellows and the organization.
  • Community input: Throughout the process of the development of RIIS 2.0, prospective members (many from the now-dissolved NJ-based Ronin Institute) were invited to participate in discussions, such as through recurring meetings, notices, and updates posted on a Discord channel and a Google Group account that were set up by and open to joining from former Research Scholars. Those who participated in working groups and meetings contributed directly to the decision-making process.
How was the incorporation of RIIS 2.0 funded?

Since we had no external funding, everyone who volunteered to be involved pulled together their existing resources. For example, one interim council member had a free Zoom account from her previous role at the University of Colorado in Boulder (CU Boulder) that she could use to host meetings until such time as we had a separate Zoom account for the organization. Other participants made interest-free loans to RIIS 2.0 by paying for state filing fees, Board insurance, and domain name registration.

Why was RIIS 2.0 incorporated in California?

In one of the early surveys, potential members were polled for the location of incorporation. This poll did not include all 50 states, but only a few that made sense to the bylaws team.

Colorado was included on the survey because:

  • The original Ronin Institute was already in the State of Colorado business database
  • There were many original Ronin Institute Research Scholars in the state

California was included on the survey because:

  • California has remained the 5th largest economy in the world since 2017
  • There were many former Ronin Institute Research Scholars in the state

While this  survey showed a slight preference for Colorado, the by-laws group chose  California because:

  • The dissolution of the original Ronin Institute negated the utility of entry in the State of Colorado business database since a new corporation was required. Incorporation in Colorado requires a physical address, but incorporation in California does not, and the new corporation is completely  virtual.
  • California has one of the largest nonprofit sectors in the U.S and is quite friendly towards nonprofits.
  • The bylaws team had also benefited from strong legal connections in California (an Interim Council member), but not in Colorado.
How was the Interim Council chosen?

The people on the Interim Council are those who initially volunteered to do the hard work of getting the institute incorporated and legally/financially solvent enough to accept members. This is in keeping with the former NJ-based Ronin Institute's policy of Do-ocracy.  Since they are “interim,” however, once there are enough members or after an agreed-upon time for new members to join, then we will hold elections to elect a new Council (please refer to the Bylaws for how this works).

Transparency and access

How can I access bylaws, policies, and records?

Draft bylaws and related materials, which were the primary activity of the bylaws group prior to incorporation, were, and continue to be, publicly shared. In addition, the final bylaws, other policies (such as policies needed for joining RIIS 2.0), and other public-facing records are available at records.ronininstitute.org.  After incorporation, RIIS 2.0 adopted nonprofit best practices for information access and document retention.

The Secretary maintains the official repository of all records. Fellows have access to non-confidential documents, such as policy drafts, non-confidential Council meeting minutes, meeting notes for Working Groups they belong to, and other approved documents, which are made available through secure online platforms. Fellows may request inspection of records that are not routinely shared in accordance with the bylaws and internal access protocols..

Have more questions?

Contact us
Contributors
  • September 16, 2025: Jovita De Loatch, Ruth Duerr, Elena Fujiwara, Alex Lancaster, Rami Saydjari, Carolyn Sealfon, Arika Virapongse
  • September 19, 2025: Additional questions about RIIS 2.0 Council and Working Groups added: Elena Fujiwara, Alex Lancaster, Rami Saydjari
  • September 20, 2025: Clarified some questions to align with Bylaws: Rami Saydjari, Alex Lancaster.
  • October 23, 2025: Updated join questions, and reorganized question order and updated and simplified section titles: Alex Lancaster