The Govind Ballabh Pant Social Science Institute became a Constituent Institute of the University of Allahabad on July 14, 2005, when the University of Allahabad Act, 2005 came into force. Established in 1980 as one in the network of Social Science Research Institutes, which Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) set up in association with the State Governments, in our case, the Government of Uttar Pradesh, the Institute entered privileges of the University of Allahabad in 2005. The Institute undertakes interdisciplinary research in the field of social sciences.

The mission of the Govind Ballabh Pant Social Science Institute is to create new knowledge in the field of social sciences. The researchers confront the emerging challenges in the continuously changing society with new paradigms and concepts, developing critical approaches to studying social phenomenon, generating new ideas, collecting empirical evidence from the ground level and constructing a dialogical engagement with policy making and social agents. Putting research in the public domain in the form of books and articles is the priority, followed by dialogue with the State and advocacy with civil society.

The main areas of research at the Institute include development planning and policy, environment, health and population, human development, rural development and management, culture, power and change, democracy and institutions.

The Institute has a doctoral programme in social sciences and a MBA Rural Development Programme. In both programmes the degree is awarded by the University of Allahabad.

The Institute also has Museum of Ethnography and Development. When fully functional, it will be a ‘living’ museum depicting cultural and sub-cultural facets of contemporary community life with special focus on tribal groups.

The Institute and its Faculty members are devoted to publication and dissemination of research ideas through widely available communication media. Since its inception, the institute has brought out over 100 occasional papers, and about 20 books and dozens of monographs. The Faculty has published a large number of research papers in various journals of national and international repute.

Academic Partnerships

The Institute’s attempts at research and development are strengthened with the associations it has formed with other organizations at the national and international level. Doctoral students of the Institute are enrolled with the University of Allahabad for the award of D. Phil. degree and the MBA-Rural Development programme is also affiliated to the University of Allahabad and is approved by AICTE, New Dellhi. The Institute has MoUs with Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow and the International Management Institute, New Delhi. The Institute has also forged close ties with diverse organizations like the Planning Commission, UNICEF, World Bank, ILO, DST, ICMR, Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, and various ministries and departments under the Government of India and the Government of Uttar Pradesh.
The Institute has collaborated on a number of projects with the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, Bhopal and is presently working with the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT), Amsterdam (Netherlands). Also through the ICSSR the Institute is also collaborating with social science institutions many countries.

Mission & Objectives

The Institute supports interdisciplinary perspective in social research, and is committed to developing an integrated approach to the study of developmental, educational and cultural aspects of nation-building. As part of its larger goal the Institute undertakes studies and research on various aspects of the socio-economic development of the country but the focus is on Uttar Pradesh and its neighboring regions.

The researches are aimed at developing a Social Science knowledge base in order to contribute towards building models of sustainable development and consumption in the face of rapid socio-economic change taking place throughout the world. In doing so, the Institute is keenly aware of the role of cultural processes in development. The main concerns of the Institute range from reducing poverty to promoting participatory, self-sustainable and efficient public policies in health, education, community welfare, and land reforms, with a view to building human, organizational and social capital. The Institute engages in enhancing productive capacities by providing diverse training. It also takes up causes fit for social advocacy. Thus, its academic inputs are immensely practical and multi-faceted. Seminars, conferences, training workshops, pre and post doctoral courses along with research are the core activities of the Institute.