What’s Osteri?

Osteri is a publication about research institutions: how they’re built, how they’re funded, and how they’re believed.

Research institutions run on money and talent, but they also run on categories and stories: basic and applied, pipelines and frontiers, the lone genius, the golden age. You cannot design institutions well while misunderstanding them, and we are entering an age in which we will design a great many of them.

Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and publication archives.

Why Osteri?

Osteri is Finnish for oyster. Oysters are filter feeders that pull the whole water column through themselves and keep what nourishes. That’s the method here. In an era of abundant intelligence, it’s perhaps the only approach to learning that still works. Expect histories, funding documents, press releases, and memoirs, read against each other across time. Occasionally, a pearl.

Stay up-to-date

Never miss an update—every new post is sent directly to your email inbox. For a spam-free, ad-free reading experience, plus audio and community features, get the Substack app.

Join the crew

Be part of a community of people who share your interests. Participate in the comments section, or support this work with a subscription.

To learn more about the tech platform that powers this publication, visit Substack.com.