Visiting Fellow, Professor Andrew Schwartz, University of Colorado Boulder, has delivered an inspired seminar on temporal governance and the case of the temporary think tank.  

He introduced “temporal governance,” the idea that an organisation’s lifespan (finite versus perpetual) is an underappreciated governance mechanism with consequences across corporate law, nonprofit law, and science policy.  

Professor Schwartz argued that perpetual life is often a default rather than a deliberate choice, and that limited-life structures can outperform perpetual ones on accountability, focus, and mission fidelity. He included a case study of Australia’s ARC Centres of Excellence, government-funded research hubs that pool researchers from multiple Australian universities around a defined scientific mission, with funding capped at seven years. Time-limited by design, Centres of Excellence offer a compelling window into what finite life does (and doesn’t) accomplish in science governance, and what lessons they hold for law and policy more broadly. 

The seminar was one of many engagements for Professor Schwartz, who has spent the last few weeks as a Visiting Fellow at ANU Law School. His time here was also limited by design, which has resulted in a whirlwind of engagements and meetings with ANU Law School academics.  

“My time at ANU was jam-packed with stimulating engagements with colleagues from the Law School and across campus. This is a world-class research university, and the faculty welcomed me with open arms,” said Professor Schwartz. “My visit was a true fellowship in every sense: it forged new connections and renewed old ones with remarkable scholars. I hope to return again soon.” 

Applications are now open for the ANU Law School Visiting Fellows Program. It welcomes leading academics, practitioners and policymakers from around the world to Australia’s national law school. Visiting Fellows enjoy the opportunity to engage with our faculty of accomplished legal and interdisciplinary scholars and conduct collaborative or individual research projects within an intellectually vibrant research community.  

It has been our pleasure to welcome Professor Schwartz to the ANU Law School as part of this program, and we look forward to the next opportunity that will see him return to Canberra.  

If you would like more information on the Visiting Fellows Program, you can find it here.