📢 Apply for the Research Data Coordinator Post at the French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP), Puducherry before 🗓️ 20 April 2026

Position Title: Research Data Coordinator – Dataset Survey & Metadata Curation Project

Location: French Institute of Pondicherry, 11, Saint Louis Street, Pondicherry-605001

Supervisor: Dr. G. Saravanan, Chief Librarian, Institut français de Pondichéry / French Institute of Pondicherry

Contact:

Email: library@ifpindia.org
Website: https://www.ifpindia.org/

Institution overview

The French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP) is a research institution under the joint supervision of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). The Institute hosts around 80 people, including researchers, technicians, PhD students, and administrative staff, both Indian and French, and is organized into four departments: Indology, Social Sciences, Ecology, and Geomatics.

Project Overview:

The French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP) maintains a diverse body of research datasets across its core domains, and special collections Photo Archives and Library. These datasets are currently distributed across departments and projects without a centralised inventory or standardised documentation framework.

This project aims to conduct a comprehensive institutional survey of datasets, establish a structured dataset inventory, and develop foundational metadata to support future integration with the Institute’s Digital Collections Portal and broader research use.

Key Responsibilities:

Conduct a systematic survey to identify and map datasets across departments and research projects
Locate datasets across various storage environments (servers, digital media, institutional and personal systems, where applicable)
Develop and maintain a centralised dataset inventory
Create and standardise dataset-level metadata using a predefined schema
Assign subject keywords and basic classification to enhance discoverability
Organise datasets at a basic structural level (where access is permitted)
Assess dataset quality, including completeness, documentation, and usability
Flag datasets requiring attention (e.g. incomplete, obsolete, or at-risk)
Coordinate with researchers and departmental representatives
Prepare a final report including findings, gaps, and recommendations

Qualifications:

Essential:

Postgraduate degree in Library & Information Science / Information Management / Digital Humanities or a related field
Basic understanding of metadata and data organisation principles
Proficiency in MS Excel / Google Sheets and handling structured data

Desirable:

Familiarity with metadata standards such as Dublin Core
Experience working with research data, archives, or digital collections
Exposure to multidisciplinary datasets (text, image, GIS, etc.)
Proficiency in French, Tamil and Sanskrit

Application Process:

Interested candidates should submit the following documents:

A cover letter detailing your interests and relevant experience
A curriculum vitae (CV) highlighting academic qualifications and any prior experience
Contact information for two academic or professional references

Applications must be submitted by email to: