The Auroville Research Platform
The Auroville Research Platform supports fertile cooperation between visiting researchers and Auroville by providing a point of contact and resource centre for researchers interested in our community. We offer various resources to ensure that your research is original, relevant and of some utility for Auroville, and that it can be executed with a strong understanding of the Auroville context.
The Auroville Research Platform team also manages the Auroville Repository – or AuroRepo, a website with research outputs that result from work that is focused on or tangibly related to some aspect of Auroville in any discipline.
We are registered as a sub-unit of the Sri Aurobindo International Institute of Educational Research (SAIIER) in Auroville.
Our Process
We first identify whether your research project is
- Something that meets an explicit research need of Auroville, and/or
- Motivated by a personal or professional goal
While we encourage you to explore and engage with Auroville’s research needs, our team supports all research proposals – to the extent that they appear viable – in the spirit of experimentation and collaboration that Auroville is based on.
Please note that if your research project meets an explicit need of Auroville you will be registered as a ‘Volunteer’ in Auroville, which has related benefits.
Support and Services
We can provide you with:
1. Support for your Research Project
- Assistance in identifying collaborative research opportunities with Auroville-based organisations and projects,
- Resource-persons or experts on your subject in the Auroville context,
- Research mentors, where needed (especially for undergraduate students),
- Assistance with identifying research participants,
- Database of research done on Auroville,
- Access to a network of researchers who are currently in Auroville, or who have done research on Auroville in the past.
2. Logistical Support for your Visit
- We are a point of contact in Auroville to answer any questions you may have about the logistics of your stay,
- We provide administrative support for the procurement of the correct visa needed to do research in Auroville – required by the Indian government*,
- We provide logistical support for presenting your research within the community.
Please note that strong checks are undertaken by the Indian government to ensure that individuals do not exceed the limitations of their visa. We strongly discourage doing research on a tourist visa, as any activity that exceeds tourist visa limitations can lead to a ban from Indian territory for a minimum of 5 years.
Opportunities for Exchange
Our team aspires to increase the quality and impact of research undertaken on Auroville, as well as encourage its dissemination. We are thus also interested in institutional-level partnerships with international and Indian centres of research and innovation. We welcome the collaboration of our visiting researchers in working towards these goals, and encourage you to act as conduits to concretise our research networks!
The Auroville Research Platform team looks forward to hearing from you! Our email address: researchplatform@auroville.org.in
Note: If you are looking for higher or further education opportunities in Auroville, check out https://edu.auroville.org/. For volunteering and internship opportunities, see https://auroville-learning.net/.