The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) is a multi-campus public university based in Mumbai, India. Founded in 1936, it is recognised as Asia's oldest institute for professional social work education.
TISS offers post-graduate and doctoral programmes across a wide range of disciplines in the social sciences. These include Habitat Studies, Management and Labour Studies, Disaster Studies, Development Studies, Education, Gender Studies, Health Studies, Law, Media and Cultural Studies, Public Policy, Rural Development, and Social Work.
Since its inception, the institute has placed strong emphasis on field action alongside academic teaching. TISS has been involved in responding to major humanitarian and social challenges in India, including the Partition of India, the Bhopal disaster, and the Uttarakhand floods. Several initiatives associated with the institute have contributed to the shaping of public policy in India, including in the area of labour welfare legislation.
The work of TISS in the field of social service has been acknowledged by various notable individuals and organisations over the years, among them Eleanor Roosevelt, Jawaharlal Nehru, Niels Bohr, and the United Nations.