Establishment:
The National Institute of Research and Development was founded in 1383 on the property of the former North Kempton William Solomon Airfield, located in the former municipality of North Kempton, now renamed Maxima, in the province of Nintel. The purpose of the Institute has since been to provide a democratic, objective, and all-inclusive foundation of education for the Independent Commonwealth State of Retun.
Structure:
The hierarchy of the Institute consists of one National Class located in Maxima, one Class for every Province and Territory in its capital (including Nintel, whose Provincial Class is located in the capital city of Maryk), one Class for every County, one Class for every Municipality or Borough, and one Class for every Estate.
Every Class on every hierarchical level except for the National Class consists of four different roles: Scholar, Lead Scholar, Representative Scholar, and Bookkeeper. The Scholar is the most numerous and most basic role of the Institute. Every candidate is admitted into the Institute initially as a Scholar by a majority vote of Approval by the Class in which he or she is attempting to enroll. The specific requirements of a Scholar vary from Class-to-Class but consist of listening and providing Approval and Objection statements for a minimum number of research thesis presentations, proposals, seminars, and debates. They also vote on the candidacies of fellow Scholars, Lead Scholars, Representative Scholars, and Bookkeepers. Lead Scholars are chosen by the simple majority vote of a Class of Scholars to preside over the said Class for a term of six years. The role of a Lead Scholar is not only to serve the requirements of fellow Scholars but also to oversee facility operations and to facilitate and preside over the functions of presentations, proposals, seminars, and debates. A Representative Scholar, when eligible, is chosen by the majority vote of a Class of Scholars to apply via a proposal for admission into the Class of the next hierarchical level; for example, from an Estate Class to a Municipality Class, or a County Class to a Provincial Class. Each Representative Scholar fulfills the role of a Scholar in that new Class, and, when eligible, may be chosen by that Class to ascend to the next hierarchical level in a similar fashion. A Bookkeeper is chosen by a Class of Scholars to serve his or her new role until retirement or discharge. The role of a Bookkeeper is to schedule proposals, seminars, and debates. Furthermore, the Bookkeeper will also be required to interpret the results of Approval and Objection statements made by Scholars and determine which statements constitute the majority of the Class.
For the National Class, the roles of the Scholar and Bookkeeper exist in the same manner and serve the same purpose with the exception that the Bookkeeper is chosen by every member of the Institute Scholar Body down to the Estate level. Also elected in the same fashion is the National Class equivalent of Lead Scholar, named the Chief Scholar. The Chief Scholar is roughly similar in figurative representation to the Headmaster of a traditional University, except with more limited administrative power. The National Class equivalent of a Representative Scholar is the title of Academic Ambassador, the candidates of whom may serve one of two roles: Ambassador to the Commonwealth Federal Government, or Ambassador to a government abroad.
Process- from Scholar to Chief Scholar:
Most Scholars enter the Institute through the Estate Class level. However, there is no rule barring a candidate from entering the Institute at a higher level. Nevertheless, every Scholar is subject to the following processes:
In order to enroll into the National Institute of Research and Development, a candidate must first submit a letter of "Intent to Research" to the Bookkeeper of the desired Class in which he or she wishes to enroll. Such a letter must state a question or a problem, state a hypothesis, and state an overall method of research. Upon receiving this, the said Bookkeeper will schedule the candidate to present the formal proposal to the Class. The candidate will then submit official documentation and deliver the formal presentation which states the question, proves the conduct of preliminary research, states the hypothesis, details the expected method of field testing or study as well as the gathering of information, and gauges the criteria for each possible outcome that proves or disproves the initial hypothesis. Such a presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer session, at the end of which every Class Scholar in attendance, including the Lead Scholar, will each cast a statement of Approval or a statement of Objection as a vote; and each will do so without cross-disclosure and will place his or her written statement in a secure envelope. All envelopes will be delivered to the Bookkeeper, who will count them and determine the majority vote. If the majority of the Class casts Approval statements, the candidate will be admitted into the Institute as a Scholar of the Class. Any Objection statements, in this case, would still be delivered to the newly-admitted Scholar for the said Scholar to determine whether or not to follow through with them. If the majority of the Class casts Objection statements, the candidate will not be admitted, but will be given a choice to follow through with the Objection statements and make revisions, or to approach the Class with a completely new research proposal. There are no limits on the number of attempts a candidate is permitted to make in order to enroll; the candidate may make as many proposals as desired. If there is a tie between Approval and Objection statements, the Bookkeeper will schedule and preside over a special Class debate, during which every Scholar, including the Lead Scholar and candidate, will be given a chance to make an argument and rebuttal as necessary. At the end of the debate, the Class will vote on a verdict before the Bookkeeper delivers the final decision.
If successfully admitted into the Class, the new Scholar will be expected to fulfill Class requirements which include attending the minimum number of seminars, presentations, proposals, and debates, as well as casting Approval and Objection statements as necessary. When the Scholar carries out his or her own thesis project, the Lead Scholar will provide or schedule all of the resources necessary for the process to be done. At the conclusion of the project, the Scholar will present his or her findings to the Class in a seminar and will state, with concise reasoning, whether the findings prove or disprove the initial hypothesis. The Lead Scholar and Class Scholars in attendance will then evaluate the presentation of the thesis with each person casting a statement of Approval or Objection. If the majority of the Class casts Approval statements, the presenting Scholar will earn an Accreditation on Behalf of the Class for the Research Thesis. The thesis will subsequently get published in the Journal of the Institute along with the Approval and Objection Statements, which will be subject to re-evaluation by later Scholars, while the presenting Scholar will become eligible to run for the position of either Bookkeeper, Lead Scholar, or Representative Scholar with regard to existing vacancies. In contrast, if a majority of the Class casts Objection statements, the Scholar will not earn Accreditation and will not be eligible to run for the previously-mentioned elected positions. However, the said Scholar will have several choices: follow through with the Objection statements and revise the thesis as necessary to present again (likewise, there exists no limit on the number of attempts for Accreditation), challenge the majority decision through a Class debate scheduled and presided over by the Bookkeeper, or to begin the entire process with a completely new research proposal. With the third choice, the Scholar would still remain enrolled in the Class and the Institute. If there was a tie in the initial vote following the presentation of the thesis, there would, again, be a Class debate.
In the event that a Scholar earns Accreditation for his or her thesis and is made eligible to run for the elected speciality positions, it is more likely than not that the said Scholar will run as a Representative Scholar on behalf of his or her currently-enrolled Class for the next Class in the ascending hierarchy. In order to attain that position, a Scholar will submit a new research thesis to the former Class to receive Approval and Objection statements, with the majority of Approval statements warranting the successful attainment of the Representative Scholar position. When the candidate successfully attains the role, he or she will forward the proposal to the Bookkeeper of the latter Class. Recently, the Principles of the Institute (the equivalent of a University Constitution) was amended so that a prospective Representative Scholar to the Municipality Class would be able to prove that a bias in his or her Estate Class led to a "wrongful Objection Majority" and allow the Municipality Class to agree, by a majority of Approval statements, to give an Admission Override, allowing the Scholar to enter the Municipality Class. The same holds true for County Classes, Provincial Classes, and the National Class.
Advancing from the Estate through the National Classes, facility venues will increase in size in order to accommodate larger numbers of people in attendance. The drawback to this is that the higher up the hierarchy a Scholar goes, the more in advance the Scholar's seminars, debates, and proposals will need to be scheduled.
For the National Class, the role of an Academic Ambassador differs slightly from that of a Representative Scholar, in that the audience for the Ambassador represents an entity outside of the Institute. Therefore, there will be differing processes for differing purposes for how the presented thesis is handled. For governments, the Ambassador's role is usually to give research-based advice (either from his or her own thesis or the thesis of another Scholar) regarding important policy decisions.
Contributions:
Since its establishment, the National Institute of Research and Development has published significant theses in science, history, politics, and other fundamental fields. For example, the Institute has been the driving force behind constant changes in the ever-dynamic darkfire industry. Institute theses have also shaped economic policies regarding the relationship between the scriptfire and dymensional plane industries, as well as crafted important diplomatic and political decisions by the Commonwealth government with regard to international relations. One notable figure from the Institute includes Rachel Croft, who studied the relationship in mesocyclonic storms between the plains of Nintel and the Inland Sea. Other important figures include Former Prime Minister Meghan Wen (who also served as the Chief Scholar between 1406 and 1429) as well as Former Prime Ministers James Lawrence Kontacet, Vet Silonk, Stanley Arland Moore, and Mary Ann Heits.