Establishing a Centre of Excellence in the Social Sciences in Tamil Nadu

Increasing the Tamil Nadu government’s capacity to enhance social science research in solving development problems

The State of Tamil Nadu needed to enhance its social science research ecosystem to improve development outcomes. Athena therefore supported The Madras Institute of Development Studies, developing a proposal to establish a Center of Excellence. Its approach looked at institutional development, using an unconventional approach to institution and research capacity-building, where people and partnerships are critical catalysts. It also extensively reviewed existing global and local institutions. In addition to this, Athena developed an input-process-output approach from consultations with key decision-makers representing these institutions.