The Religion, Science, and Society funding area supports the discovery of meaningful and practical insights into the religious, spiritual, and cultural dimensions of humanity.
Research supported by this funding area aims to expand and enhance the ways people experience meaning, understand the universe, and cultivate social connectedness. Our approach prioritizes interdisciplinary work that engages with the sciences and humanities on themes relevant to understanding how humans navigate spiritual and scientific questions in various contexts. Our grant portfolio draws from a range of intellectual, religious, and spiritual traditions and seeks to transform human knowledge to meet contemporary challenges.
In the 2025 Funding Cycle, we are particularly interested in the topical areas below.
Understanding Religious and Cultural Change
In this topical area, we aim to advance knowledge of how religion, spirituality, and culture evolve across the world and transform human experience. We prioritize interdisciplinary and empirical research on religious innovation, or new religious ideas, methods, and practices, that catalyze cultural change. Examples include projects that:
- Analyze innovations that are motivated by religions and/or spirituality. How does religion, faith, or spirituality inform the process and outcomes of innovation?
- Study the emergence of innovations in religious and spiritual contexts. What problems do innovations in religion and spirituality attempt to solve?
- Model how spiritual and religious innovations spread. Do they spread differently from other types of innovation?
To apply for funding in the topic, please submit an Online Funding Inquiry in the Templeton Portal to Religion, Science, and Society – Understanding Religious and Cultural Change.
Health, Religion, and Spirituality
In this topical area, we aspire to improve scholarship on the diverse ways in which religion, spirituality, or faith contribute to living a healthy life. We welcome clinical and implementation studies as well as approaches that engage how health intersects with our other thematic interests. Examples include projects that:
- Integrate insights from religion, spirituality, or faith into the practice of healthcare. Building from previous successes and challenges, what new healthcare sectors present promising opportunities?
- Enrich the understanding of spiritual health to combat loneliness and social isolation. What key factors of religion and spirituality influence social health and how can health professionals best apply this research?
- Enhance collaborative partnerships with faith communities to strengthen collective wellbeing. How do we more effectively integrate the diverse range of religions, spiritualities, and faiths to advance the interconnectedness of generations, places, and institutions?
To apply for funding in the topic, please submit an Online Funding Inquiry in the Templeton Portal to Religion, Science, and Society – Health, Religion, and Spirituality.
Meaning Making in the Modern World
In this topical area, we seek to understand how people develop meaningful lives and pursue spiritual flourishing in a rapidly changing world. We welcome interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches involving the sciences, philosophy, theology, and/or religious studies. Examples include projects that:
- Develop novel research on the curation of “immersive experiences,” or intentional activities, encounters, and events that have the potential to instill both a sense of individual purpose and compassion for others.
- Examine how people reframe their moral and existential understandings to achieve new ways of experiencing meaning, especially outside of traditionally religious contexts. (For additional context, see our recent Spiritual Yearning Research Initiative).
- Investigate the role of interpersonal relationships and commitments in the development of meaningful, virtuous lives. (Examples of relational commitments include families of origin, children, romantic partners, aging parents, “chosen family,” or religious communities, etc.)
To apply for funding in this topic, please submit an Online Funding Inquiry in the Templeton Portal to Religion, Science, and Society – Meaning Making in the Modern World.
Other
In addition to the topical areas above, we welcome funding inquiries from within the full spectrum of Religion, Science, and Society. This may include projects that:
- Examine philosophical, scientific, and theological themes within science and religion across different eras or disciplines.
- Encourage contemporary religious and spiritual communities to engage with the sciences and with other wisdom traditions.
- Cultivate future-mindedness in religion by anticipating the future of spirituality in the framework of cultural evolution.
To apply for funding in these topics or others, please submit an Online Funding Inquiry in the Templeton Portal to Religion, Science, and Society – Other.
