[1] It was founded by J. R. D. Tata for providing an avenue for administrators, managers and social leaders for interaction and exchange of information with notable academics in the areas of science, arts and humanities.

The institution, based in Bengaluru,[2] in the south Indian state of Karnataka, started functioning on 20 June 1988 with Dr. Raja Ramanna as its founder director.

The centre works as a forum for the social and political leaders and academics to interact with each other for interdisciplinary exchange of knowledge and information.

School of Humanities is a centre for advanced research in the disciplines of philosophy, psychology, literature, fine arts and culture.

It undertakes research cum outreach projects in the areas of education, gender, inequality, governance, urbanization and development.

School of Natural Sciences and Engineering is the division which focuses on energy, environment, climate change, complex systems, ecology, animal behaviour, cognition and conservation biology.

Research has been carried out number theory, artificial intelligence, soft computing, and mathematical modelling of complex chaotic systems.