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Q&A: Five Questions with Betül Kaçar
Betül Kaçar is an assistant professor at the University of Arizona in the departments of Cell Biology and Astronomy. Her research investigates molecular mechanisms of evolution, the origins of life, and the distribution of life throughout the universe. Her research team uses a new approach that infers ancient DNA sequences using phylogenetics, engineers these reconstructed DNA inside microbial genomes, and reanimates them in order to study ancient enzymes in modern organisms. Kaçar’s work at the University of Arizona and previously at Harvard University has been supported by multiple grants from the John Templeton Foundation, including the latest $357,843 grant “Molecular…
Character, Virtue, Quarantine
The COVID-19 pandemic has created new challenges for nearly everyone around the world. Even for those whose homes are untouched by the coronavirus itself, daily life, work, and family rhythms have been disrupted. One of the John Templeton Foundation’s core interests is the ways that understanding and cultivating character and virtue can measurably improve human flourishing. Over the past several years, we have commissioned research reviews collecting insights and future questions around the topics — many of which seem especially relevant for the challenges that COVID-19 has brought to the foreground. Generosity. From sewing handmade masks to help protect medical…
JTF Symposium: Does Religion Contribute to Human Flourishing?
CAMBRIDGE, Ma. – At a time of spiritual dynamism, as religions surge in the global south and traditional faith affiliations decline in the west, the John Templeton Foundation brought together scholars for a three-day symposium at Harvard to discuss a question of growing academic interest: Does religion contribute to human flourishing? And if so, how can such flourishing be measured among individuals, groups, and social and cultural institutions? The event, organized by the Foundation's Humble Approach Initiative in collaboration with Harvard's Program on Integrative Knowledge and Human Flourishing, featured presentations on the topic by over a dozen academics from institutions around the…
Paul Davies on ‘What’s Eating the Universe?’
Paul Davies, a theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and best-selling author is Regents’ Professor of Physics and director of the Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science at Arizona State University. His research has explored quantum gravity, black holes, early-universe cosmology, and astrobiology as it relates to the origin of life. In 1995 he became the third physicist to be awarded the Templeton Prize, both for his groundbreaking research and his work engaging philosophers, religious leaders and the public around questions of the universe’s origin and nature. Nate Barksdale, lead writer for the John Templeton Foundation’s “Possibilities” newsletter, recently spoke with Davies…
Video: What Is Life?
Have we encountered alien life already and just not realized it? Will deepening our understanding of life in the universe transform our understanding of ourselves? Explore the profound questions surrounding the nature and origins of life that propel the research of astrobiologist Dr. Sara Walker of Arizona State University in this interview. Walker is the recipient of a $2.9 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation for a project, co-led by Templeton Prize laureate Paul Davies, to explore the transitions bridging chemistry and the origins of life. What Is Life? "Life is literally the physics of creativity," says Walker. "It's…
End of Year Message from President Heather Templeton Dill
Dear Friends, Curiosity is one of the core principles that guides our work at the John Templeton Foundation. How can we live meaningful and purposeful lives? How does our social context inform decisions that we make or the way we interact with each other? How does basic science research contribute to human flourishing – even when it takes years to get results or to transform our understanding? These questions drive our curiosity because they focus on the role that humans play in making the world a better place. This year, perhaps more than others in recent memory, reminded us why…
The Testimony of Rocks and Minerals
How Quantum Biology Could Uncover the Secret of Our Origins
Developing a Comprehensive Theory of Complexity
Christian Meaning-Making, Suffering and the Flourishing Life
Nine Ways to Make a Diamond
God-complexity and the Multiple God-Aspects Framework
It’s a grateful life: Grants explore the benefits of gratitude and humility
Sir John Templeton believed that the path to life’s blessings is paved with gratitude. Recent research has supported this intuition that gratitude and humility can, among other things, help forge stronger leadership, more productive workplaces, and better schools. But questions remain: Can we become more grateful and humble? Can scientific research help us design programs to instill the lessons about gratitude and humility? And how can we move this message from the laboratory and into the global community? With support from John Templeton Foundation, researchers are aiming to answer these questions. Scientists are only at the initial stages of work…
Fields, Geometry and Physical Reality
Aspects of Religious Experiences: Investigations from Science, Philosophy, Theology, and Religious Studies
Theism: An Axiological Investigation
New Agendas for the Study of Time: Connecting the Disciplines
Wisdom & Practice: A New Podcast from the Aspen Institute hosted by Simran Jeet Singh
How Does Religious Participation Affect Human Flourishing?
New research to evaluate long-term links between spiritual practice and physical, mental and social well-being A new set of studies based at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health will examine the ways that individual religious participation can contribute to various aspects of human flourishing over the long term. The three-year project, made possible by a $1.23 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation, will offer an unprecedented examination of the potential effects of religion on happiness, life satisfaction, meaning and purpose, character, and social relationships. The studies will be led by Tyler VanderWeele, an epidemiologist who is co-director of…
Planning Grant: Conviction, Virtue, and Pluralism
The Enhancing Life Project
Marcelo Gleiser Wins 2019 Templeton Prize
MARCELO GLEISER AWARDED 2019 TEMPLETON PRIZE WEST CONSHOHOCKEN, PA. – Marcelo Gleiser, theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and a leading proponent of the view that science, philosophy, and spirituality are complementary expressions of humanity’s need to embrace mystery and the unknown, was announced today as the 2019 Templeton Prize Laureate. Gleiser, 60, the Appleton Professor of Natural Philosophy and a professor of physics and astronomy at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, has earned international acclaim through his books, essays, blogs, TV documentaries, and conferences that present science as a spiritual quest to understand the origins of the universe and of…
Strategic Priority Q&A: Religious Cognition
Please note: The information in this article reflects our strategic priorities at the time of writing and may change over time. To confirm our current funding interests, please view our Funding Areas. This conversation is the sixth in a series of conversations about the Strategic Priorities that the John Templeton Foundation will be funding over the next five years. This interview with Nicholas J. S. Gibson, Senior Program Officer, Human Sciences, was conducted and edited by Benjamin Carlson, Director, Strategic Communication. To get started, why don’t you share a little about your story – what brought you to the…
Recently Approved Grants – July 2017
Gratitude as a Fount of Virtue: Examining How Gratitude Fosters Other Noble Character Traits David DeSteno • Northeastern University • $217K • Learn More The Character Course: Design, dissemination and evaluation of a church-based small group programme for character development Roger Bretherton • University of Lincoln • $206K • Learn more Scaling Up a Compelling Mussar-Based Teen Curriculum Steven Kraus • Musser Institute Society USA • $217K • Learn more The Embodiment of Worship: Relations Among Postural, Psychological, and Physiological Aspects of Religious Practice Patty Van Cappellen • Duke University • $555K • Learn more Building an Abrahamic Scholarly Community Kelly James Clark…
Quantifying the role of cultural forces in shaping human genetics
Religious belief, health, and disease: a family perspective. II. The follow-up and analyses
The Real Danger of Nightmares
Neuroscientist Patrick McNamara offers one of the most startling accounts of nightmares that I have ever heard. In this video for The Well, the Boston University associate professor of neurology first offers the benefits of REM sleep — its association with creative capacities and religious consciousness in humans—and then proceeds to dig into its darker aspect: nightmares. First, he observes something I had not appreciated, which is that people with a certain neurobiology are more prone to have nightmares, and that this tendency seems to be related to having more dissociative episodes (periods of being disconnected from reality) when awake. …
Two new grants aim to unravel the essence of hope & optimism
Some people are unflappable optimists. The gambler who just knows that the next roll will be a winner. The patient diagnosed with cancer who is sure he can beat it. Or the Cubs fan who knows that this year is the year. What makes us hopeful? When is optimism reasonable? Are hope and optimism good for us? Through two grants from the John Templeton Foundation, sociologists, philosophers, and scientists are seeking to explain precisely what constitutes hope and optimism, to probe what makes us hopeful and optimistic, and to discern when and where they are good for us. With support…
The Role of Religion in Social Change: The Case of “Secret Society” Religions
Promoting Intellectual Humility Among Middle-School Students: Developing an Educational Film and Preliminary Intervention Strategy
The Embodiment of Worship: Relations Among Postural, Psychological, and Physiological Aspects of Religious Practice
More than Selfish Genes: Understanding the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis
Unveiling the nature of quantum reality: a theoretical and experimental approach employing non-destructive weak measurements
Conceptual Problems in Unification Theories
Enduring Character Virtues: How After-School Organized Activities Support Character Development from Childhood through Young Adulthood
The Emergence of Prosocial Religions: How Cultural Evolution Favored Beliefs and Rituals that Galvanize Large-scale Cooperation
What Is Organism-Centered Evolution?
The Human Natures project: assessing and understanding transdisciplinary approaches to Culture, Biology and Human uniqueness
Prize Competition to Promote Future Mindedness in Capital Markets
Faith, Politics, and Intellectual Humility
A public symposium on the prospects for civil discussion In the age of the internet comment, it gets harder and harder to imagine meaningful dialogue between people who disagree about topics as deeply held and divisive as faith and politics. On April 25 in Hartford, Connecticut a trio of speakers with divergent backgrounds but a common interest in revitalizing civic discourse will make the case for — and chart paths towards — just such conversations. At the event titled “Talking About Faith and Politics: Navigating Our Differences with Conviction and Humility," former presidential advisor David Gergen, interfaith youth activist Eboo…
Life on the Edge: quantum thermodynamics, quantum biology and the arrow of time
A Sociological Analysis of the Science of Purpose Project
Eating Disorders and Christian Spirituality: An Exploratory and Co-design Approach to Prevention, Whole Person Care and Recovery
Strategic Priority Q&A: Science of Virtues
Please note: The information in this article reflects our strategic priorities at the time of writing and may change over time. To confirm our current funding interests, please view our Funding Areas. This conversation is the third in a series of conversations about the Strategic Priorities that the John Templeton Foundation will be funding over the next five years. This interview with Sarah Clement, Senior Director, Character Virtue Development, was conducted and edited by Benjamin Carlson, Director, Strategic Communication. To get started, why don’t you share a little about your story – what brought you to the Foundation? What…
WATCH: Did Science Invent Optimism?
What role did science play in the emergence of optimism? Join us in conversation with the Columbia University professor and chair of biology, Dr. Stuart Firestein. Author of two trade books on the surprising role of ignorance and failure in science, Dr. Firestein is at work on a new book on optimism, from which he shares a preview in this exclusive discussion with the John Templeton Foundation. His bold argument makes the sweeping claim that it was the emergence of science, and its discovery of technologies that enabled rapid improvement in quality of life, that first allowed people to feel…
Modeling Cosmic Dynamos in Quantum Electronic Materials
Using Big Data to Cultivate and Nurture Genius
Experimental evolution of genome architecture and complexity in RNA virus
Spiritual Beliefs as Predictors of Mental Health: A Test of ETAS Theory
Surprising Allies
A new book dispels myths about scientists and people of faith Rice University sociologist Elaine Howard Ecklund has devoted much of the last decade to dismantling common stereotypes about religion and science, largely by surveying scientists and people of faith to find out what they actually think. Still, whenever she gives an interview on her work, the first question is always, So, is there a conflict between religion and science? “I'm continually surprised about how interested people are in the religion and science interface,” Ecklund says. “This kind of conflict motif, I think, does sell, so I don't feel cynical…
