Planning Grant for ‘Supporting Structures: Innovative Partnerships to Develop the Future of Bench Science at Christian Liberal Arts Institutions’

With the sustained challenges facing almost all institutions, the future of higher education will require greater public–private collaboration, rather than the duplication of efforts at siloed institutions. This planning grant will enable the CCCU to develop a major project which innovates such collaboration and supports a campus-wide culture of constructive engagement with the sciences and further prepare scientists to contribute to the field of science and religion (S&R). The full project will contribute to a set of overarching goals aimed at training faculty and strengthening institutions by creating: 1) research-active postdoctoral fellowships in bench/experimental sciences; 2) research leave for early career scholars; 3) opportunities for senior scholars to conduct advanced research in “big science” in significant labs and mentor postdoctoral fellows; 4) enhanced institutional support for sciences; and 5) training programs in in S&R. Critically, the project will foster partnerships between well-qualified and productive CCCU scholars and their institutions and major research universities or research centers, helping CCCU faculty and schools to collaborate in “big science,” and contributing to their training of future academic leaders. It will also roll out the benefits of SCIO’s S&R training to a wider variety of postdocs situated in R1’s. Throughout, it will assist participants to form an academic community and encourage bonds and collaborations between those in North America and the UK. These activities will nurture promising early career scholars and support postdoctoral education at Christian liberal arts institutions. They will help develop serious scientific research culture in CCCU institutions and enhance a culture of scientific engagement which can lessen suspicions of science among stakeholders in Christian higher education. The full project builds on Templeton’s (JTF and TRT) investments in prior CCCU/SCIO funded projects.