The Institute

Direction

Director : Velayoudom Marimoutou (ifpdir@ifpindia.org)

Status

The French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP), UMIFRE 21 CNRS-MAEE, is a financially autonomous institution under the joint supervision of the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MAEE) and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). It is an integral part of the network of 27 research centres connected to this Ministry.

Historical Review

Established under the terms of the Treaty of Cession of French Territories in India, the French Institute of Pondicherry was inaugurated on 20 March 1955. It was initially engaged, under the leadership of its first director (Jean Filliozat), in the study of Indian civilization and culture, and more particularly in the history and the religions of South India.

In the 1960s, a department of ecology was created to collect information on the conditions and evolution of the environment in South India (vegetation, soil, climate change, etc.) with its focus on the Western Ghats, one of the world’s 34 hotspots for biodiversity.

With the setting up of the department of social sciences in the 1980s, the Institute also extended its interest to the evolution and dynamics of Indian society.

The development of research and the necessity to support it with modern methodologies and equipment led to the creation of a laboratory of geomatics (LAIG) in the 1990s. With it, the Institute acquired modern tools for the representation and analysis of the relationships in space and time between these entities and their environment. The installation of the LAIG as a common tool greatly helped in identifying new areas for research.

The IFP also has a multidisciplinary Centre for Documentary Resources (CDR), which came into being as the result of a major restructuring of three research libraries in Pondicherry. This Centre holds specialized data of the research conducted at the IFP, which is augmented every year through a dynamic acquisition policy. The CDR is open to the public within a set of rules framed by the IFP.

“From Tradition to Modernity”, a document released on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the IFP, traces the history of the Institute from its inception to the present.p>

Mission and calling

In terms of Article 24 of the Treaty of Cession of French Territories in India (1956) the mission of the IFP is to function as an establishment for higher studies and research.

The aim of the Institute is to deploy its resources for projects in South and South-East Asia.

Fields of research

• Indology: Indian Society, History and Culture: Sources and Resources
• Social Sciences: Contemporary Social Dynamics
• Ecology: Environment and Sustainable Development

Research departments

• The Department of Indology focuses its attention on the key features of classical India, namely, its religions, its literature, its languages (Sanskrit, Tamil, etc.) in order to better interpret and understand the foundations of modern India.
• The Department of Social Sciences promotes research on the major questions of society and on the relations between human societies and their environment: social management of water, urban development, demography and social mobility, finance and debt, impact of industrialization on rural systems, diffusion of new technologies, traditional health care systems, health problems related to the spread of transmittable diseases, etc.
• The Department of Ecology concentrates its research on biodiversity and notably on the functioning of fragile ecosystems (forests, mangroves, etc.), by considering man as an important factor in their evolution. It conducts research that aims to understand and evaluate the biological diversity of natural ecosystems as well as those affected by human impact. This research activity has the related aim of contributing to the establishment of schemes for conservation and sustainable management of natural resources. The high priority accorded to research on palaeoenvironments has yielded a rich and varied collection of pollen.

Scientific Orientations and Projects

In keeping with its multidisciplinary nature, the Institute hosted in 2008, fully or in part, 19 research projects (eight of which were led by French and Indian researchers or teachers-cum-researchers belonging to other establishments) spread over ten orientations:

• Indology :
    Indian analyses of Sanskrit language and literature
    History of religions
    Tamil studies

• Social Sciences :
    Health and societies
    Economy and societies
    Environment and societies

• Ecology :
    The Palaeo-environments of South India
    Application of new information technologies for strengthening of Taxonomic expertise
    Biodiversity elements in the Western Ghats
    Usage of biodiversity and ecosystems modified by human activity

Support structures for research

Two “transversal structures” support the research departments :

• A Laboratory of Applied Informatics and Geomatics, which applies its expertise in the following areas: digital mapping, utilization of satellite imagery, geographic information systems and modeling, multimedia promotion. It also deploys its computer resources and information technologies within the Institute. Its documentary collection consists of 3 000 maps and several databases.
• A Centre for Documentary Resources. The computerized collection comprises in particular: 60 000 books; 800 journals, of which 250 are regularly subscribed; 8 500 palm-leaf manuscripts (the largest collection of texts on Saivasiddhanta in the world and registered as such in the "Memory of the World" register of the UNESCO, with the IFP being regarded as a "Manuscript Resource Centre" by the National Mission for Manuscripts of the Government of India); 1 144 transcripts; a collection of 140 000 photographs, of temples and edifices in South India notably.

Other missions

Promotion of knowledge The corpus of scientific knowledge at the IFP is made available to social, economic, cultural and political decision-makers in various forms : publications; expertise (in particular, in the area of environment); scientific events ; library ; promotion of scientific culture and technology (information, exhibits, etc.).

Training Within the framework of its research projects, the IFP welcomes, for various tenures, PhDs and masters level trainees of different nationalities (French, Indian, European and others). In 2008: 9 PhDs tenured at the IFP; 15 PhDs as well as 6 Masters level trainees who came for different lengths of tenure.

Publications

The IFP’s research results are circulated through different types of publications :

• In journals to supervisory committees and in the proceedings of national and international congresses
• By the Institute: book series and multimedia CD-ROM(see catalogue) ; position reports or evaluations; maps with notes on the soils and vegetation of South India.

Additionally, the Institute publishes a news bulletin, « Pattrika », in collaboration with the CSH in Delhi and the EFEO (3 issues per year). The Institute also organizes scientific events on different themes.

Personnel

The personnel of the IFP consist on average of 80 persons. In 2008:

• 8 expatriate personnel on temporary assignment from the MAE (1 director, 1 secretary general, 4 researchers, 2 ICV)
• 11 Indian researchers
• 28 research assistants (engineers and technicians)
• 25 administrative and service personnel (archivists, secretarial, maintenance).

Other than the personnel appointed to the Institute or remunerated by it, the Institute welcomes every year some researchers and research assistants on project contract and financed by outside sources, and experienced researchers and students of all nationalities, associated with projects of the Institute and carrying out resident study for various lengths of time. (for further details, see "Staff").

Partnership agreements

Agreements with French institutions: In addition to its agreements with the CIRAD, the CNEARC, the EFEO, the EHESS, the EPHE, the ENGREF, the INALCO, the INRA, the IRD and the Universities of Aix-Marseille, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Paris (I, III, IV, VI, VII, X, XII), Rennes and Rouen, the IFP has non-institutionalized partnerships with various other universities.

Agreements with Indian institutions: The IFP has agreements with universities, research institutes and the technical departments of governments (forestry and environment): Calicut University, Indian Space Research Organization, Jawaharlal Nehru University, National Mission for Manuscripts, National Remote Sensing Agency, Physical Research Laboratory, Pondicherry Institute of Linguistics and Culture, etc.

Other cooperation agreements : The IFP works in collaboration with European teams (from Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, etc.), as with teams from America and South and South-East Asia (Bangladesh, Laos, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan): American Institute of Indian Studies, Washington and Lee University, University of Jaffna, University of California, University of Michigan; Swarthmore College; Eastern University of Sri Lanka; University of Toronto ; Autonomous University of Barcelona; Darmouth College; Durham University; Facultés Universitaires Saint Louis ; Harvard University; Institut Universitaire d’Etudes du Développement ; Institut de Ciencia i Tecnologica Ambientals; Kyushu University; National Herbarium Nederland; National University of Laos; Oxford University; Pontifica Universita Gregoriana; Ruhuna University; University College; University of Copenhagen; University of Heidelberg; University of Kent; University of Leiden; University of Minnesota; University of Sussex; Victory University, ...

See the page « Partners » for further information regarding these partners.

Operational resources

In 2006, 80% of the support (direct or indirect) to research projects was ensured by external resources: Indian (Universities, National Mission for Manuscripts, National Remote Sensing Agency, CEFIPRA); French (Universities, IRD, CIRAD, EFEO, CNRS, ANR, ANRS, MEDD); International (European and American Universities, European Union, World Bank, ILO, Ford Foundation, AUF)

The budget of the IFP is made up of basic subsidies ( mainly from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and external resources (contracts,...). The scientific programmes are in majority self-financed, the basic subsidy being unable to support them anymore. The French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) provides intangible resources (electronic library, lever effect in calls for proposals,...) and the next transition into an operational structure for research (SOR) will allow us to welcome new staff members.

On a utilizable area of 3,000 m² divided between a building dating from the 19th century, which was recently renovated, and a wing constructed in 2002-2003, the Institute avails of: 26 offices; three laboratories (computer, palynology, botany); two herbaria, one reading room with 30 seats; one conference room with 40 seats; various rooms for the storage of documents, one of which is for the preservation of valuable collections (manuscripts and photos) and one map library; one photographic laboratory; one exhibition hall; four guest rooms.

The Institute is served by an integrated and state-of-the-art computer network.

The IFP has three vehicles, two of them “cross-country” vehicles.