Whereas the majority of Christians, who have entered into the Syriac heritage, live in India, the literature, manuscripts and other source materials pertaining to that heritage are, for the most part, in West Asia and in the Western countries.

SEERI has already acquired an impressive collection of Photostats of documents, CDs, microfilms and microfiches of published and unpublished writings in the original. Translations of Syriac literature in modern languages (English, German, French etc.) have also been acquired. The Library and the manuscript section are being built up steadily.

The Institute’s programmes include publications, translations, training projects, seminars, lectures and courses, Symposia etc. SEERI also provides the setting for scholars from other countries wanting to study the situation of the largest living communities of the Syriac tradition against the Indian background. They would also share with us the fruits of their scholarship and research. The microfilm collection has at present over ten thousand pages of mostly unpublished Syriac texts and manuscripts. Readers (equipments) for microfilms and microfiches have been installed. There is also a steadily growing section of modern books on various branches of theology.

Eminent scholars are available for guiding research work in the filed of Syriac Patristic, Liturgy, Church History etc. The Institute can also help Indian scholars to be in touch with Institutes abroad in the pursuit of their higher studies.

Among the activities of SEERI during the last 23 years were 6 World Syriac Conferences in which a large number of scholars from India and abroad participated.