Tata Institute of Social Sciences

Their core work

Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) is one of India's foremost social science research universities, specialising in governance, development policy, and urban studies. In H2020 projects, they bring a policy and community perspective that technical partners cannot provide: in LOTUS they contributed social and governance dimensions to a water quality monitoring consortium, while in REGFUT they are conducting original research on how digitalisation reshapes territorial politics and power in rapidly urbanising Global South cities. Their core value to European consortia is grounded access to Indian fieldwork contexts, communities, and public administration networks — especially in Mumbai and Maharashtra. As a non-EU institution, TISS functions as a Global South anchor that gives research genuine empirical and political relevance beyond European contexts.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

TISS entered H2020 through LOTUS (2019), contributing governance and community knowledge to an environmental technology project focused on water quality sensors, decision-support systems, and water distribution management — applied, infrastructure-adjacent social science. Their second project, REGFUT (2022), represents a clear shift toward critical theory and political analysis: the keywords move from sensors and rivers to digitalising state, information revolution, and municipal governance. The trajectory points from applied environmental governance toward a more theoretically ambitious agenda examining digital power and territorial politics in urbanising societies.

TISS is consolidating an identity as a leading research voice on how digital transformation reshapes governance and political geography in Global South cities — a niche with growing relevance for EU programmes focused on green-digital transitions and international development.

How they like to work

TISS has only ever joined H2020 consortia as a participant, never as coordinator — consistent with their role as a non-EU regional specialist rather than a project manager. Despite appearing in just two projects, they have accumulated 30 unique consortium partners across 8 countries, confirming they are embedded in large, multi-institutional networks rather than small bilateral arrangements. Working with TISS means gaining a credible institutional anchor in India with access to local governance actors, fieldwork infrastructure, and policy networks that European partners cannot easily replicate.

TISS has engaged 30 unique partners across 8 countries from just two projects — an unusually wide network footprint that reflects their placement in large, geographically diverse consortia. Their partnerships almost certainly span European research universities, Indian institutions, and potentially other Global South nodes given their thematic focus on regional futures and urbanisation.

What sets them apart

TISS is one of a small number of Indian higher education institutions with active H2020 participation, giving them a distinctive position as a bridge between European research consortia and South Asian academic, governmental, and civil society networks. Consortium builders seeking credible on-the-ground expertise in India — particularly on urban governance, water management, or digital policy — will find few European alternatives that can substitute for what TISS brings. Their participation in an ERC Advanced Grant (REGFUT) also signals recognition at the highest tier of European research excellence, distinguishing them from institutions whose international engagement stays at the applied-project level.

Highlights from their portfolio

• REGFUT
  Funded under ERC Advanced Grant — the most competitive individual research scheme in H2020 — this project places TISS at the centre of original theoretical research on digitalisation and urban governance in the Global South, a high-prestige engagement that signals exceptional academic standing.
• LOTUS
  A large RIA consortium linking TISS's social science expertise to environmental sensor technology and water management infrastructure, demonstrating their ability to contribute meaningfully to cross-disciplinary technical projects far outside their home discipline.