About CSSSC

The Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, was founded in February 1973. Financed primarily by matching grants from the ICSSR and the Government of West Bengal, the Centre has full academic autonomy, is designed to function democratically and is proud of its impeccable record of public accountability.

Academic and administrative matters at the Centre are under the control of a Board of Governors consisting of representatives of the Central and State governments, the ICSSR, the UGC, the universities of West Bengal and the Centre's faculty. A distinguished academic heads the Board as Chairman of the Centre. The Director of the Centre is appointed by the Board from among the professors of the Centre and decides on all academic matters in consultation with the Centre's academic council comprising all faculty members. The Director also acts as Honorary Director of the ICSSR, Eastern Regional Centre.

A key administrative position is that of the Registrar/Administrative Officer who participates in the drawing up of all academic programmes and looks after all administrative matters in consultation with the Director. He is also Joint Director of the ICSSR, Eastern Regional Centre.

The Centre's Professors and Fellows are academics of high merit from the fields of economics, history, political science, sociology, social anthropology, geography and cultural studies. Our unique interdisciplinary culture allows for collaboration between people from different fields for research that might not find support in traditional department-based institutions. We explore contemporary problems with a focus on eastern India.

In addition, the Centre:

1. Runs a Research Training Programme (RTP) for young researchers,
2. Accepts doctoral students who are supervised by the Centre's faculty and are affiliated to a university. Interested students are welcome to apply,
3. Organises a variety of recurring and one-off academic events in the year, including seminars, workshops, and two annual lecture series, the S.G. Deuskar and R.C. Dutt lectures. Most events are open to the public; some are by invitation only,
4. Runs projects with various national and international bodies.

New Campus

In March 2000, the Centre moved to its new campus at Baishnabghata Patuli Township on the southern end of the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass. The new campus is 45 minutes from the city airport, and an hour from Howrah, the main rail station. It accommodates the library, the archive and rooms for seminars and lectures, as well as the administrative and faculty offices.

The second stage of construction will include a guesthouse and accommodation for visiting faculty. The Centre retains a city office, guest rooms and an auditorium on the first two floors of its old premises at 10 Lake Terrace, Calcutta 700 029, where it was housed for 25 years. The top two floors have been renovated to accommodate the Jadunath Sarkar Resource Centre for Historical Research, a depository of vernacular language materials relating to the social and colonial history of Bengal and Eastern India. The Resource Centre is likely to open to scholars early next year.