AVIS

Are you looking for an internship? apprenticeship? service learning opportunity? a study programme or contacts for educational networking?
Welcome to the Auroville Volunteering, Internships & Studies programme! (AVIS)

AVIS is a permanent programme started in 2000 under the umbrella of the Sri Aurobindo World Centre for Human Unity (SAWCHU) and Sri Aurobindo International Institute for Educational Research (SAIIER), to foster perpetual education and research as expressed in the Auroville Charter.

AVIS' tasks include

• information and networking within/from/to Auroville and the world;

• administrative support to higher education endeavours, with educational or research institutions, individual students and youth;

• joint curriculum design, local logistics, and coordination of visiting study programmes taking place in Auroville

• research in curriculum design at the higher education level and facilities planning.

How AVIS got started

Many students and trainees regularly come to Auroville for short courses and training organised by units, services or research centres. Besides this large population of learning visitors, numerous students individually come to Auroville for work placements as part of their studies (around 80 per year), or through semester programmes run by universities.
These adventurous young people predominantly come from the four corners of India, but also from all over the world: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Korea, Mauritania, Norway, Pakistan, Senegal, Spain, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Sweden, The Netherlands, UK, USA, etc.

Overseas educational outpost

As they share about it (see section 'Personally Speaking'), the information, orientation, practical conditions and supervision of work placements requires a lot of improvement. Moreover, the increasing popularity of Auroville as an 'overseas educational outpost' for American universities brings up the need for coordination here. Hence the AVIS programme was started to oversee student and higher education issues, and coordinate educational exchange programmes.

The side developments of this activity have concerned apprenticeships and Overseas Volunteers' placements.

Internship requests: modus operandi

Please note that for the time being AVIS will only consider requests of individual students staying at least one month. For shorter stays, please contact the Auroville Guest Service: avguests@auroville.org.in

The simplest way to find an internship is to come to Auroville. Drop in to our office and get a few names from our database. Then go visit places, meet the people you find most suitable for your case, let the magic operate, and wonderful experiences may unfold!

A less simple but slightly surer way is to take the following steps before reaching here.

Step 1 - Get a rough idea of what is possible

Have a look at the information about Auroville on the Internet: personal pages, links, news reports, research papers.. all over the world, will give you an idea of what happens here.
On this website, see the section: Works in the past & today's possibilities, Training and academic courses, Long Term Volunteering.

Step 2 - Send your request

E-mail study@auroville.org.in about:
(1) what you would like to do (motives, topic, how long, when, etc.)
(2) and your background (level studies, work experience, hobbies, etc.)
Step 3 - Wait for feedback and/or list of contacts

We will respond within 10 days with preliminary feedback. In case there is any possibility, we will send you a list of potential host organisations related to your field of interest and studies.
[NB: in case you do not get a receipt acknowledgement from our side within these 10 days, feel free to re-send your request.]

Step 4 - Directly contact the potential hosts

You directly get in touch with these organisations (research centres, public services, business units…) to see if one of them is willing to welcome you, and work out the details.
Please Carbon Copy us your correspondence with the Aurovilians, for our information, so that we can follow the progression of talks.
The managers of most places are very busy. So you may not receive an answer straight away. If necessary, feel comfortable to send them a polite reminder after ten days.

Step 5 - Let us know

In case you reach an agreement, great! Let us know as soon as possible and it will be a pleasure to meet you here.
In case nothing works out, contact us again anyway, and we will see together about other options (back to step 3).

Step 6 - Prepare your trip and internship

The Auroville International Centres and previous students are goldmines of information, tips and tricks.

Side step - Meet some previous students

Most of the past students are open to share about their experience in Auroville with the next ones. Some of them may be in your country (or even living in the same home town!).
If you would like to get in touch with past students, we can send you their email addresses once your request is registered (at step 3).  See the section 'Personally speaking'..

After Auroville…

Whether difficult or smooth, you most probably will have an intense time here, working and living in a very different environment.
At the end, whatever your opinion about your experience, and no matter how positively or negatively you feel about the place, future students can benefit from your sharing with them. You may like to be part of our mailing list to keep in touch with the higher education developments, and offer ad-hoc help if you are willing to and can.