Academic Research Program Initiative (ARPI II)

20 January 2020

Photo: ARPI

On account of the success of the pilot project (2014–2018) followed by the first round of the Academic Research Program Initiative (ARPI-I) (2016–2020), we are pleased to announce the launch of the follow-up project (ARPI-II), which will be likewise funded by the Khyentse Foundation for a period of 4 years (July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2024). The ARPI project continues to be the main means of carrying some of the most central objectives of the Khyentse Center for Tibetan Buddhist Textual Scholarship (KC-TBTS), including (a) training traditional scholars in modern historical and philological methods, (b) establishing research centers of Tibetan Buddhism in Tibetan Buddhist monastic institutions in South Asia and promoting cooperation between them and the Western Academia, and (c) developing and supporting research projects with a focus on Tibetan Buddhist textual studies. ARPI-II aims at training a new batch of Tibetan scholars, alongside publication of the research result of the pilots and ARPI-I members. A peculiar characteristics of ARPI-II is its following the train-the-trainer approach, aiming at sustainable research environments in the future. Three research centers will be participating in the project, including Chökyi Lodrö Research Center (CLRC) at Dzongsar Institute (Chauntra), Ngagyur Nyingma Research Center (NNRC) at Namdroling (Mysore), and Shechen Research Division (SRD) at Shechen monastery (Kathmandu).