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Conversations with Grantees: Angela Duckworth
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. In this conversation with grantee Angela Duckworth, founder and CEO of Character Lab and professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, she speaks about being a good person, advancing the science and practice of character development, and recognizing that you're not always right — a trait called intellectual humility. "Since there have been people, there has been this question of, how do I grow up to…
Conversations with Grantees: Rabbi Geoffrey Mitelman
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. In this conversation with grantee Rabbi Geoffrey Mitelman, founding director of Sinai and Synapses, he speaks about the importance of intellectual humility, the Scientists in Synagogues program, bringing together science and religion, and how to nurture constructive — not destructive — conversations. "Imagine if, when we have disagreements, if we have different perspectives, that those conversations actually move us forward." Watch to learn more: This interview is…
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…
Foundation-Supported Researchers Win Nobel Prize and MacArthur Fellowship
Two researchers who have received support from the John Templeton Foundation were announced this week as winners of the Nobel Prize and the MacArthur Fellowship. Jennifer A. Doudna of the University of California, Berkeley won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her work on developing a method for editing the genome. She received the award jointly with Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier of France. Doudna was the co-leader of a John Templeton Foundation-supported project to convene discussions among scientists, ethicists, and civil and religious leaders on the challenges and opportunities of gene editing and to develop “a set of common principles to…
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…
Five Steps to Opening Minds
A new $2.6M grant to help communities cultivate intellectual humility through online learning Admitting mistakes can be difficult — especially in a polarized society where certainty is prized — but learning to be intellectually humble may be key to fostering productive dialogue across the differences that divide us. Inspired by the need for such virtues, a team of researchers is now working to help communities learn to appreciate curiosity, open-mindedness, and constructive dialogue in a new, three-year, $3.8 million project led by Jonathan Haidt and Caroline Mehl. Created to address rifts within American society, the OpenMind Program aims to identify…
Promoting Intellectual Humility in Classrooms
A new project will help gauge how students feel realizing the limits of their understanding — and ways they can positively respond Much of the goal of education is about getting students to know things — to be informed discussion participants or well-prepared test-takers. But for education to be successful, and for students to flourish in the classroom and beyond, it can be equally important to show students productive ways of not knowing. Intellectual humility, which might be defined as recognizing the limits of one’s knowledge and being open to learning from others, has emerged as one of the central…
How Grantees Are Helping With COVID-19
Templeton Grantees Respond to the Coronavirus At the beginning of 1665, a deadly plague shuttered Cambridge University and sent a 23-year-old Isaac Newton back to his family estate. There, in relative seclusion, Newton thought and wrote and calculated — making breakthroughs in calculus, motion, optics, and gravitation. Newton’s annus mirabilis has become an oft-repeated (and at times embellished) chestnut in the history of science, but it gets at the truth that when the world is turned upside-down and many possibilities are foreclosed, others can open up. Today, as then, tragedy, uncertainty, and massive shifts in the rules of everyday life…
On Asking Open-Minded Questions: Heather Templeton Dill Interviewed on ‘Beyond Belief’
What inspired one of the world’s great pioneering global investors to devote his wealth to unlocking the mysteries of the universe and human nature? Heather Templeton Dill, president of the John Templeton Foundation and granddaughter of its founder, explored such questions and more in a wide-ranging interview on Beyond Belief, a weekly online show that features guests of diverse backgrounds exploring their views on spiritual and intellectual questions. Beyond Belief is produced by Aish, a Jewish community and content-focused organization. Host Rabbi Adam Jacobs interviewed Dill in a forty-five-minute conversation that covered the Foundation’s origins and the vision of Sir…
Physicist and Cosmologist Marcelo Gleiser Awarded Templeton Prize at Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
“Science is a flirtation with the unknown, a recognition that we know little of the world around us…” Theoretical physicist and cosmologist Marcelo Gleiser was awarded the 2019 Templeton Prize at a ceremony Wednesday evening, May 29, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium in New York City. “Science is a flirtation with the unknown, a recognition that we know little of the world around us, which we can perceive only imperfectly,” Professor Gleiser said in his Templeton Prize address at the ceremony. “Yet, as it embraces the quest for knowledge, it lifts the human spirit and…
Foundation Releases White Paper on Study of Hope and Optimism
A new report explores the benefits of two related virtues. A new paper published by the John Templeton Foundation explores the latest scientific and philosophical research on the related but distinct virtues of hope and optimism. The 45-page white paper, written by Michael Milona, a philosophy professor at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada, examines findings on the benefits and risks involved in both hope and optimism. Milona’s summary gave particular focus to the results of another Templeton-funded initiative, “Hope & Optimism: Conceptual and Empirical Investigations,” a three-year, $4.4 million project led by Samuel Newlands at Notre Dame and Andrew Chignell…
2018 TEMPLETON PRIZE CEREMONY TO HONORHIS MAJESTYKING ABDULLAH II OF JORDAN
CONTACT: Donald Lehr – The Nolan/Lehr Group +1 (212) 967-8200 / mob +1 (917) 304-4058 dblehr@cs.com / www.templetonprize.org FOR RELEASE: Tuesday, November 6, 2018 . 2018 TEMPLETON PRIZE CEREMONY TO HONOR HIS MAJESTY KING ABDULLAH II OF JORDAN His Majesty King Abdullah II of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan will receive the 2018 Templeton Prize in the presence of ambassadors, Jordanian and U.S. government officials, and Washington political leaders, faith leaders, and society on Tuesday, November 13, 7:00 PM, at a ceremony to be held at the Washington National Cathedral. Admission to the ceremony is strictly by…
Generosity: Is it Really Better to Give Than Receive?
Science reveals that generosity benefits the giver, too The old truism that “it’s better to give than to receive” isn’t just fodder for preschool and Sunday school lessons. A host of studies support the claim that generosity is not only good for the recipient, but the giver as well. However you practice generosity—tithing to a religious institution, volunteering at a food pantry, donating to nonprofits, or driving elderly relatives to the store—your quest to serve others is likely to result in personal rewards, too. Research shows that altruism between people reduces sadness and stress while increasing a sense of purpose…
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…
Heather Templeton Dill Joins the Generosity Commission
President Heather Templeton Dill and the John Templeton Foundation are proud to be a part of the Generosity Commission which launched on October 12th. This commission consists of a group of leaders across business, philanthropy, and civil society that will address the ways in which generosity is conveyed in America, especially during times of conflict, and how it can be fortified. Following a two-year plan that calls for new research and national conversation, the Generosity Commission will explore and promote multiple ways that philanthropy, volunteerism and community are being redefined in 21st century America. The group’s two goals are to…
Monthly Grant Report – June 2019
Recently Approved Grants Human Sciences Project Title Grantee(s) Project Leader(s) Grant Amount Knoxville Marriage Initiative: Partnering with churches to deliver science-based interventions to solve a community problem The University of Tennessee Kristina Gordon $234,800 Natural Sciences Project Title Grantee(s) Project Leader(s) Grant Amount The creative role of stress in evolution and development Yale University Gunter Wagner; Alan Love $886,152 Philosophy & Theology Project Title Grantee(s) Project Leader(s) Grant Amount What Breathes Fire into the Equations: The Metaphysics of laws of nature Rutgers University Foundation Barry Loewer $167,325 The Fine-tuning Argument: A Curated Bibliography The University of Mississippi Neil…
How To Keep Your Glass Half Full
Q&A: Five Questions with Jason Marsh
Jason Marsh is the executive director of the Greater Good Science Center (GGSC) at the University of California, Berkeley, and the founding editor-in-chief of the center’s award-winning online magazine, Greater Good. The GGSC sponsors research into social and emotional well-being and provides resources to help people apply this research to their personal and professional lives. Marsh was recently featured in TIME magazine’s “Apart. Not Alone” series responding to the COVID-19 crisis in a list of “27 People Bridging Divides Across America.” The GGSC has published an online Guide to Well-Being during Coronavirus, including advice about approaches for practicing character virtues…
Report Shows Key Role for Communication at Science Philanthropies
In a time marked by scientific discovery and technological advancement, a new report identifies a promising area for greater investment by science philanthropies: communication. The report, Identifying Best Practices for Communications Workforce at Science Philanthropies, was developed through a collaboration by the Rita Allen, Albert and Mary Lasker, and John Templeton Foundations to identify challenges and opportunities in science philanthropy communications. Philanthropy’s contributions are critical to advancing scientific research, providing essential support for new ideas and major initiatives. However, the report finds, science philanthropies can amplify their impact considerably by investing more purposefully in communications as a central part of…
Collaborative Inquiries in Christian Theological Anthropology
A new project will foster interdisciplinary work — informed by both science and theology — on what it means to be human Human flourishing and freedom are topics that have long been considered by theologians and humanities scholars, but recent work in the life and social sciences—on subjects ranging from how brains make decisions to how individuals develop virtues — is presenting some of those age-old topics in a new light. A new three-year, $3.9 million research project funded by the John Templeton Foundation and led by theologians Jesse Couenhoven at Villanova University, and Gerald McKenny and Neil Arner at…
More than a Feeling: How Hope Galvanizes Us Into Action
Monthly Grant Report – December 2019 & January 2020
Recently Approved Grants Human Sciences Project Title Grantee(s) Project Leader(s) Grant Amount Religious belief, health and disease: a family perspective. I. Data collection University of Bristol Jean Golding; Kate Northstone $234,800 Scholarship for International Faculty/Students to Attend Spirituality & Health Research Workshop Duke University Harold Koenig; Benjamin Doolittle $115,411 Natural Sciences Project Title Grantee(s) Project Leader(s) Grant Amount Social Practices, Scientific Practice, and Human Evolution Wesleyan University Joseph Rouse $233,297 Philosophy and Theology Project Title Grantee(s) Project Leader(s) Grant Amount Panentheism and Religious Life The Johns Hopkins University Yitzhak Melamed; Clare Carlisle $232,748 SCP Graduate Fellowships for Science…
Hope and Grit: Companions on the Road to Change
The Leap to Life: $2.9M Grant to Explore Life’s Emergence
Robotic chemical reactors, synthetic organisms, and artificial intelligence are poised to shed new light on one of science’s most engaging and vexingly murky questions — the origin of life — in a unique new research project with $2.9 million in core funding from the John Templeton Foundation. The project got its formal start this fall at the University of Arizona under the leadership of astrobiologist Sara Walker, who has made several key contributions to the study of life’s origins, and Paul Davies, a theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and 1995 Templeton Prize laureate. The three-year series of studies and analyses aims to…
2018 Templeton Prize Laureate to be announced on Wednesday, June 27
FOR RELEASE: Tuesday, April 17, 2018 2018 Templeton Prize Laureate to be announced on Wednesday, June 27 48th winner of £1.1 million annual prize for spiritual progress Event: Announcement of the 2018 Templeton Prize Laureate Date: Wednesday, June 27, 6:00 AM EDT (Philadelphia) / 10:00 hours GMT Venue: Online at www.templetonprize.org; via email to journalists; Twitter via @TempletonPrize; #TempletonPrize2018 The winner of the 2018 Templeton Prize will be announced on Wednesday, June 27 at 6:00 AM EDT (Philadelphia) / 10:00 hours GMT, online at www.templetonprize.org, via email to journalists, and on Twitter via @TempletonPrize. Valued at 1.1 million British pounds,…
Self-Sabotage Is Undermining Your Future. Here’s How to Conquer It.
Humans aren’t alone in our ability to imagine the future and predict likely outcomes. Research shows that animals from ravens to orangutans plan ahead by setting aside tools for later use. Still, our capacity for future-mindedness extends far beyond that of other species. We can dream about many scenarios that haven’t yet happened—for good or ill. (Seneca: "We suffer more from imagination than from reality.") We can constantly update our predictions of our personal future based on what we observe in the world around us. How we think about the future has significant implications for our decision making, and which…
Generosity Comes More Naturally to Some People Than Others. Here’s Why.
A look at the individual, social, and cultural reasons behind why we give. In the Biblical parable of the Good Samaritan, a man is besieged by robbers, beaten, and left for dead on the side of the road. Throughout the day, two travelers pass by—one of whom is a priest—but neither stop to help. Finally, a Samaritan comes down the road. Seeing the man in need, he treats his wounds, carries him by donkey to a nearby inn, and pays for his stay. It’s a familiar story, so frequently invoked that we use “Good Samaritan” as shorthand for someone who…
Strategic Priority Q&A: Intellectual Humility
This conversation is the first 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 Richard Bollinger, program officer in Character Virtue Development, was conducted and edited by Benjamin Carlson, director of strategic communication. What is intellectual humility? Many people agree that the core definition has to do with recognizing and owning one’s own limitations and recognizing that one’s perspective is incomplete and at times even incorrect. Where there’s some disagreement is how much more you add to that concept. For example, some people include…
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…
King Abdullah II of Jordan Awarded 2018 Templeton Prize
CONTACT: Donald Lehr – The Nolan/Lehr Group +1 (212) 967-8200 / mob +1 (917) 304-4058 dblehr@cs.com / www.templetonprize.org FOR RELEASE: Wednesday, June 27, 2018 6:00 AM EDT / 10:00 hours GMT KING ABDULLAH II OF JORDAN AWARDED 2018 TEMPLETON PRIZE WEST CONSHOHOCKEN, PA. – King Abdullah II of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, who has done more to seek religious harmony within Islam and between Islam and other religions than any other living political leader, was announced today as the 2018 Templeton Prize Laureate. Known for his grace and humility, the King’s long quest to promote peace-affirming…
Spiritual Exemplars Program
2017 Templeton Prize Laureate to be announced on Tuesday, April 25
FOR RELEASE: Monday, April 10, 2017 2017 Templeton Prize Laureate to be announced on Tuesday, April 25 47th winner of £1.1 million annual prize for spiritual progress Event: Announcement of the 2017 Templeton Prize Laureate Date: Tuesday, April 25, 2017, 8:00 AM EDT (New York) / 1:00 PM BST (London) Venue: Online at www.templetonprize.org; via email to journalists; Twitter via @TempletonPrize; #TempletonPrize2017 The winner of the 2017 Templeton Prize will be announced on Tuesday, April 25 at 8:00 AM EDT (New York) / 1:00 PM BST (London), online at www.templetonprize.org, via email to journalists, and on Twitter via @TempletonPrize. The…
August 2021: Monthly Grant Report
Recently Approved Grants Public Engagement Mathematics and Physical Sciences Natural Sciences Human Sciences Character Virtue Development Project Title Science, Explored: Radiolab on Science and the Big Questions Establishing a Templeton LSST Early-Career Research Fellowship The Role of Cultural Evolution in Human Understanding Global Flourishing Study: Piloting and Waves 1-5 Validation and Unification of Love Measurement Grantee(s) New York Public Radio LSST Inc Chancellor, Master and Scholars of the University of Oxford Baylor University The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Project Leader(s) Suzie Lechtenburg Jennifer Sokoloski Geoffrey Bird, Caroline Catmur Byron Johnson, Tyler VanderWeele Sara Algoe Amount $1,513,801 $6,970,779…
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…
WATCH: Did Science Invent Optimism?
Faith: Is It Real If You Never Kneel?
Religious faith entails action, not just right belief Faith in anything requires action. We don’t just talk about our faith; we eventually have to step out onto the metaphorical bridge. Think of the ways we act out our faith in the context of relationships: When you trust your partner’s commitment, you don’t snoop through their emails. The same applies to personal safety. If you believe that an airplane will stay aloft in the sky, you board the flight. These daily choices are acts of faith, whether or not we think of them as such. What about religious faith? Is trust…
The King and the Cathedral
Celebrating King Abdullah II’s call for Muslims — and others — to enact their love of God and neighbor Cathedrals don’t just happen overnight — they require of their planners, funders, and craftsmen a time horizon better suited for institutions than individuals, and a willingness to do one’s work without the guarantee of ever seeing the end result. The first proposal for the church that became the Washington National Cathedral was made in 1791, but it was more than a century before the builders laid the foundation stone. Its main sanctuary opened to the public in 1932. In 1990, nearly…
An Education in Character: Building a New Curriculum to Teach Virtues to Future School Leaders
The ideal of a servant leader — one who focuses on the needs of others and guides through persuasion rather than the exercise of raw power — has been upheld by religious leaders and philosophers for millennia. Only recently, however, has it found its place in the sociological theory of leadership styles. Today, servant leadership is at the heart of a new program to help future educational leaders develop their own core virtues and learn to shape those of the institutions they will eventually lead. The program, funded with a recent $2.4 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation and…
WATCH: How to Make a Map of the Invisible
You can’t see it, touch it, smell it, or taste it. It is like nothing else in the known world. It exists silently alongside ordinary matter, not interacting with it, but exerting a powerful effect. Its strange, almost imperceptible presence affects the very fabric of the cosmos—in fact, it holds creation together. Though it sounds like a concept out of Avicenna or Aquinas, this strange thing is an object of intense study in modern physics: dark matter. While deep mysteries remain, thanks to new methods and approaches—some of which stretch the boundaries of science itself—astronomers are peeling back the…
How Quantum Biology Could Uncover the Secret of Our Origins
Can We Train Our Brains to Be More Resilient?
WATCH: What Makes an Honest Person? It May Be More Complex Than You Think.
Honesty is intrinsically good. Society, by and large, appears to agree on this notion. We uphold honesty as an important virtue and extol its benefits — it helps us foster healthy relationships, strengthens organizations and communities, and promotes credibility and trust. We celebrate historical exemplars of honesty, like President Abraham Lincoln, and decry public displays of dishonesty, like those committed by Tiger Woods or Bernie Madoff. Why then, if honesty is so important and unanimously appealing, is it so often neglected by academic research? And how can we begin to study its many complexities? These are some of the…
2019 Templeton Prize Laureate to be announced on Tuesday, March 19
FOR RELEASE: Monday, March 4, 2019 2019 Templeton Prize Laureate to be announced on Tuesday, March 19 49th winner of £1.1 million annual prize for spiritual progress Event: Announcement of the 2019 Templeton Prize Laureate Date: Tuesday, March 19, 6:00 AM EDT (Philadelphia) / 10:00 hours GMT Venue: Online at www.templetonprize.org; via email to journalists; Twitter via @TempletonPrize; #TempletonPrize2019 The winner of the 2019 Templeton Prize will be announced on Tuesday, March 19 at 6:00 AM EDT (Philadelphia) / 10:00 hours GMT, online at www.templetonprize.org, via email to journalists, and on Twitter via @TempletonPrize. Valued at 1.1 million British…
The Art of Meaningful Conversations
The Testimony of Rocks and Minerals
Foundation Approves Over $105 Million in New Programs
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. In June and July 2021, the Board of Trustees of the John Templeton Foundation approved 91 funding requests with an approximate total value of $105 million to support new programs. Learn more about recent projects we have funded that are now active. These include: Investigating how the arrow of time emerges from the building blocks of reality How and when children learn how to forgive Exploring the…
Is the Universe Fine-Tuned for Life? | New Research Review from FQXi
The Joy Campaign: Sharing the Wisdom of the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu to Bring Spiritual Practice to Contemporary Generations
Best of All Possible Worlds?
Global Resilience Oral Workshops (GROW) Zambia: A Storytelling Approach to Hope and Resilience through Character Training and Spiritual Practices
