The Institute

Direction

Director : Jean-Pierre Muller (CV, Blog) (ifpdir@ifpindia.org)

Secretary General : Yvan Prikhodiko (yvan.prikhodiko@ifpindia.org)

Status

The IFP is a financially autonomous institution under the jurisdiction of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE). It is an integral part of the network of 26 research centres connected with this Ministry.

Historical Review

Established subsequent to the Treaty of Cessation of French Territories in India, the French Institute of Pondicherry was inaugurated on 20 March 1955. It was in the beginning solely engaged in the study of Indian civilization, in particular the history of Indian religions in the South. In the 1960s, a department of ecology was created to collect information on the condition and evolution of the environment in South India. In the 1980s, with the constitution of the department of social sciences, the Institute turned its attention to the social dynamics of contemporary India. With the creation of a laboratory of geomatics in the 1990s, the Institute acquired modern tools for the representation and analysis of the spatial and temporal interrelations between these societies and their environment.

In a document published on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the IFP (“From Tradition to Modernity”), the present director traces the history of the Institute, from its “gestation” to its “maturity” and lays the foundation for a necessary “renewal”.

Missions and vocation

The IFP has three basic missions: research, expertise and training. The vocation of the Institute is to involve itself in South and South-East Asia.

Fields of Research

• Indian cultural knowledge and heritage
• Contemporary social dynamics
• Transformations of healing methods and health systems
• Environment and sustainable development

Research Departments

• The Department of Indology focuses its attention on a number of the historical keys to classical India, namely, its religions, its literature and its languages (Sanskrit and Tamil) in order to better 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: the social and political dynamics of healthcare traditions, the sociological aspects of HIV transmission, the health problems related to the spread of transmittable diseases, the social dimensions of the microfinance, the territorial transformations related to economic liberalization, the dynamics of indian megalopolises, the social management of water, the demographic trends and social mobility, the diffusion of new technologies, ... ;
• The Department of Ecology conducts research on biodiversity and is particularly concerned with the functioning of fragile ecosystems (forests, mangroves), considering man as an important parameter in their evolution.

Scientific Orientations and Projects

An institution with a multidisciplinary vocation, the Institute hosts in 2005, fully or in part, 30 research projects (10 of which are directed by French and Indian researchers or teachers-cum-researchers belonging to other establishments) distributed according to 10 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 Paleo-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 actvity

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 modelling, multimedia promotion. It also implements 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: 56 000 books; 900 journals, of which 300 are regularly subscribed; 8 500 palm-leaf manuscripts (the largest collection of texts on Saivasiddhanta in the world); 1 100 transcripts; a collection of 136 000 photographs, in particular of temples and edifices in South India.

Other missions

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

Training The IFP hosts, in the framework of its research projects, young trainees (masters, postgraduate diploma, etc.), doctoral and post-doctoral students of different nationalities (French, Indian, European and others).

Publications

The research results are circulated in different types of publications :

• In journals to supervisory committees and in the proceedings of national and international congresses
• By the Institute: book series and CD-ROM multimédia (cf. catalogue) ; position reports or evaluations ; maps

Moreover, 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 exhibitions.

Personnel

The “permanent” personnel of the IFP consist on average of 80 persons. In 2005 :

• 9 expatriate personnel: 7 staff members on temporary assignment from the MAE (1 director, 1 general secretary, 4 researchers, 1 ICV) 2 affiliated IRD researchers
• 10 Indian researchers
• 8 French research fellowship holders
• 30 research engineers and technicians
• 24 administrative and service personnel (archivists, secretariat, maintenance personnel).

Other than the above personnel appointed to the Institute or remunerated by it, the Institute hosts every year some fifteen 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 the agreements with the CIRAD, the CNEARC, the CNRS, the EFEO, the EPHE, the ENGREF, the INRA, the IRD and the Universities of Aix-Marseille, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Paris (I, III, VI, X, XII), Rennes and Rouen, are the non-institutionalized partnerships with various universities.

Agreements with Indian institutions: There are numerous agreements with universities, research institutes and the technical departments of governments, in particular forestry and environment.

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), and participates in projects financed by the European Union, the World Bank, the ILO, the Wellcome Trust, the UNFPA and Indian sponsors (NRSA, DST, etc.).

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

Means of operation

Approximately two-thirds of the financial means of the IFP are provided by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (450 000 euros in 2005), the remainder of the budget coming primarily from diverse contracts with national and international sponsors.

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; 3 laboratories (computer, palynology, botany); 2 herbaria, 1 reading room with 30 seats; 1 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 1 map library; 1 photographic laboratory; 1 exhibition hall; 4 guest rooms.

The Institute is provided with an integrated and updated computer network.

The car fleet consists of 4 vehicles (3 of which are “cross-country” vehicles).