French Institute of Pondicherry

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Coordinates: 11°56′13″N 79°50′10″E / 11.937025°N 79.836131°E / 11.937025; 79.836131

Institut Français de Pondichéry
Ifp logo.png
Established 20 March 1955
Type French Government
Director Prof. Vêlayoudom Marimoutou
Location Puducherry, Puducherry, India
Campus Urban
Website [1]

The French Institute of Pondicherry (fr:Institut Français de Pondichéry) UMIFRE 21 CNRS-MAEE, is a financially autonomous institution under the dual 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 with this Ministry.

Contents

[edit] Historical Review

Established subsequent to the Treaty of Cession of French Territories in India, the French Institute of Pondicherry was inaugurated on 20 March 1955. It was in the beginning engaged, under the impulsion of its first director (Jean Filliozat), in the study of Indian civilization, and notably in the history and the religions of South India.

In the 1960s, a department of ecology was created to collect information on the condition and evolution of the environment in South India (vegetation, soils, climate changes,...) with as predilection area, the Western Ghats, one of the 34 world hotspots for biodiversity.

In the 1980s, with the constitution of the department of social sciences, the Institute also took interest to the evolution and dynamics of the Indian society.

The development of research and the necessity to support it with modern methodologies and instruments, led to the creation of a Laboratory of Applied Informatics and Geomatics (LAIG) in the 1990s. With it, the Institute acquired modern tools for the representation and analysis of the spatial and temporal interrelations between these societies and their environment. The installation of the LAIG as a common tool greatly helped in developing new objects of research.

The Institute also has a multidisciplinary Centre for Documentary Resources (CDR), which was the fruit of an important restructuration of 3 research libraries in Pondicherry. This library holds collections specialized in the research that is led at the IFP, and is enriched year by year through a dynamic acquisition policy. It is open to the public within a framework fixed by the IFP.

In a document published on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the IFP, “From Tradition to Modernity”, the history of the Institute was traced, from its “gestation” to its “maturity”, and the foundation for a necessary “renewal” was laid.

[edit] Missions and vocation

The mission of the IFP is defined in the Article 24 of the Treaty of Cessation of French Territories in India (1956), as an Establishment for Higher Studies and Research.

The vocation of the Institute is to involve itself in South and South-East Asia.

[edit] Fields of Research

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

[edit] Research Departments

  • The Department of Indology (historical department) focuses its attention on the keys to classical India, namely, its religions, its literature, its languages (Sanskrit, Tamil,...) 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,...
  • The Department of Ecology centers its research on biodiversity and notably on the functioning of fragile ecosystems (forests, mangroves,...), by considering man as an important parameter in their evolution. It conducts research that aims to understand and evaluate the biological diversity of natural as well as anthropised ecosystems, with the objective to contribute to the establishment of schemes for conservation and sustainable management of natural resources. A significant space is given to research on palaeoenvironments on the basis of an important collection of pollens.

[edit] Scientific Orientations and Projects

As an institution with a multidisciplinary vocation, the Institute hosts in 2008, fully or in part, 19 research projects (8 of which are led 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 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

[edit] 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 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: 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.

[edit] Other missions

Promotion of knowledge The accumulation 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 The IFP welcomes, in the framework of its research projects and for various lengths of stay, doctorates, post-doctorates and young trainees (masters level,...) of different nationalities (French, Indian, European and others). In 2008: 9 doctorates and post-doctorates posted at the IFP; 15 doctorates and post-doctorates as well as 6 Masters level trainees who came for different lengths of stay.

[edit] 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 multimedia CD-ROM(cf. catalogue) ; position reports or evaluations ; maps with notices on the soils and vegetation of South India.

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 scientific events on different themes.

[edit] The manuscripts

With respect to its branch of research in Indology, the French Institute of Pondicherry has a collection of 8,600 Hindu religious manuscripts and similar records, forming part of India’s National Mission for Manuscripts. Comprising 8,187 ancient palm-leaf bundles, 360 paper codices and 1,144 recent paper transcripts, it is the largest collection of manuscripts primarily transmitting texts of the Saiva Siddhanta tradition of Hinduism. The collection was started in 1955 by the institute's founder-director, Jean Filliozat, who desired to explain the Hindu temple and what happens in it. The manuscripts were gathered from private collections of temples, priests and monasteries across South India and brought to the institute with the intention of preserving, transcribing and eventually translating them. Four volumes of a catalog describing in detail the contents of 4,000 texts transmitted in 475 of the palm-leaf bundles were published in 1986, 1987, 1990 and 2002, respectively. Cataloging has continued using flatbed scanning and digital photography technology in conjunction with a computerized database.

[edit] Contents of the collection

  • Mantra/ritual manuals 1,890
  • Devotional hymns and legends of holy places (stotra/mahatmya) 1,360
  • The literary epic about Rama (Ramayana) 192
  • Traditional South Indian medicine 198
  • Literary works in Sanskrit 160
  • Tamil devotional literature 1,350

[edit] Recognitions

The collection was registered in the World Memories of the UNESCO in July 2005 and was declared a national treasure of India by the Indian government. The institute was also declared a "Manuscripts Resource Centre" in 2004 in recognition of the valuable collection.

[edit] Collections

  • Pollen reference slide collection ~22,000 slides falling in 15,000 tropical plant species.
  • Library collection consists of 9000 books, 300 theses, over 1000 articles and 800 journals of which 260 are received currently.
  • Herbarium is internationally recognized and indexed index Herbariorum [2] housing nearly 23,000 specimens.
  • Photographs nearly 136,000 and are unique resource for visual information about South India in the second half of the twentieth century, particularly its temple art.
  • Maps nearly 3,000 maps on India and South and Southeast Asia, around 1,200 topographic maps of the Anglo-Saxon scale (1 inch/1mile) dating from the first half of the 20th century and an equal number of topographic maps at the metric scale (most of them 1/50,000 and nearly 200 sheets at 1/250,000) obtained from the Survey of India and covering most of the Indian subcontinent. Around 500 thematic maps of other South and Southeast Asian countries (vegetation, soil, geology, meteorology, etc.) at highly varying scales, mainly from the 50’s, are also preserved in French institute.

[edit] 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, secretariat, maintenance personnel).

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").

[edit] Partnership agreements

Agreements with French institutions: In addition to the 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, 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 (of forestry and of 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, …

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, ...

[edit] Means of operation

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; 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 3 vehicles (2 of which are “cross-country” vehicles).

[edit] External links

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