Academic Cross-Training Fellowship
Because of disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the John Templeton Foundation regrets to announce that we will not proceed with the 2020 ACT Fellowship funding competition. If you are interested in learning about future funding opportunities with the Foundation, please sign up to receive our Possibilities newsletter. We also encourage scholars interested in the Foundation’s mission to consider our priority funding areas and to apply for funding by submitting an Online Funding Inquiry. We thank you for your interest in the Foundation’s work.
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The John Templeton Foundation invites applications for its Academic Cross-Training (ACT) Fellowship program beginning December 1, 2019, with fellowships to begin Fall 2021. The ACT Fellowship program is intended to equip recently tenured (after September 2009) philosophers and theologians with the skills and knowledge needed to study Big Questions that require substantive and high-level engagement with empirical science.
Each ACT Fellowship will provide up to $220,000 (US dollars) for up to 33 months of contiguous support for a systematic and sustained course of study in an empirical science such as physics, psychology, biology, genetics, cognitive science, neuroscience, or sociology. Acceptable courses of study might include a plan to audit undergraduate and graduate-level courses, a plan to spend time in residence at a research lab, or a plan to earn a degree in an empirical science. This iteration of the program will also permit applicants to request that up to one year of the ACT Fellowship be used to support a small-scale pilot scientific research project that improves or enhances the capacity, skill, and talent of the fellow to investigate the above-described Big Questions. Fellows may undertake their study at their home institution or another institution. All fellows must have a faculty mentor in their cross-training discipline.
Please note that due to IRS limitations on the Foundation’s grantmaking, the maximum term of the ACT Fellowship is now 33 months.
Application process :
The application process has two stages: a Letter of Intent (LOI) and for the most promising applications, invitation to submit Full Proposal. The LOI must include the following:
- Applicant information – contact details, name of academic institution conveying tenure, and CV (10 MB limit);
- Request information – proposed project dates (project may not begin before the beginning of AY 2021-2022 or exceed 33 months in duration), cross-training discipline, and name of cross-training mentor;
- 400-word Project Statement describing – a) what topics or questions you believe cross-training will help you investigate, (b) how these topics or questions fit with JTF’s donor intent, and (c) what the proposed course of cross-training might look like.
Calendar :
December 1, 2019 LOI submission window opens
May 1, 2020: LOI submission window closes
June 1, 2020: Full proposals invited
July 13, 2020: Full proposals due
Fall 2020: Awards announced
Fall 2021: Fellowships begin
