The Federation Science Institute was a 23rd century university.
History and specifics[]
In the 2260s, personnel from the Federation Science Institute sent three probes to the Crossroad Nebula in quadrant 6 to locate a potential Turtledove Anomaly Point, but all three probes disappeared. Three observation buoys and two starships also were lost in the region, prompting Starfleet to dispatch the USS Enterprise to investigate.
In 2270, Enterprise personnel were implanted with false memories by Cymris Darthanian to forgot their encounter with the 26th century starship Nautilus near the Crossroad Nebula. Darthanian believed that the technique would not alter history, confident that Christine Chapel would soon leave Starfleet for the Institute of Xenobiology, where her groundbreaking research would eventually lead to cure a plague in his century. However, Chapel chose to apply to the Federation Science Institute instead. (TOS novel: Crossroad)