Learn more about this Global Request for Ideas (RFI) with the potential to change the world.
As TWCF considers how best to advance Sir John Templeton's vision in a rapidly changing world, we've launched a Global Request for Ideas (RFI) to help inform our future funding priorities.
After five years of focused investment in Human Flourishing, the Templeton World Charity Foundation (TWCF) is entering a new chapter defined by a renewed embrace of its full mandate and an unprecedented open invitation to the global research community. As the Foundation reconsiders how best to advance Sir John Templeton's vision in a rapidly changing world, it is launching a global Request for Ideas (RFI) to help inform its future funding priorities.
"This RFI is part of our strategic planning process," says Dr. Nick Higgs, TWCF’s Vice President of Strategy and Programs. "We're really looking for ideas from potential grantees about new and exciting developments in areas within our remit that would be interesting to explore and help advance our mission."
For TWCF, the RFI represents a moment of both reflection and transition. The Foundation's previous five-year strategy, which focused on human flourishing and character virtues, has not only reached a natural conclusion but is coinciding with wider organizational transitions. As the Foundation advances toward these milestones, it is well-positioned to explore new directions.
With a background in marine biology, Higgs himself joined the Foundation roughly six months ago, specifically to help frame a strategy that broadens the Foundation's field of vision after a half-decade of deep focus on human flourishing.
But the shift isn't only internal. Higgs noted TWCF's renewed openness is also a response to global changes. "I think we're at a time when both spiritual aspects of life and scientific methods are changing and being challenged in ways that would probably be unrecognizable to our founder, Sir John Templeton, who believed that science, if pursued both rigorously and with humility, could reveal truths about the deepest aspects of reality.” At a moment when trust in science and institutions is being questioned, returning to that founding spirit feels particularly important.
TWCF invites mission-aligned ideas across any theme, with the goal of shaping its future priorities rather than limiting submissions to a predefined strategy. Depending on the submissions it receives, TWCF expects to develop three to four major funding priorities, each potentially receiving between $5 million and $20 million over the ensuing five to seven years.
At the heart of this process, according to Higgs, is TWCF's long-term commitment to promoting scientific and religious exploration that can inspire new perspectives on the deepest questions of meaning, purpose and truth. Historically, roughly two-thirds of TWCF's funding has supported what it calls “big questions in science and religion,” inclusive of three clusters of topics that exemplify Sir John Templeton's vision.
The first explores the fundamental structures, processes and constituents of the natural world – research into what Higgs refers to as "the fundamental nature of ultimate reality," inclusive of scientific questions that stretch human imagination, such as the physics of quantum reality, the origins of life, and the possibility of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. TWCF is particularly open to research that could be called "fundamental", in the sense of being about basic explanatory principles that might account for a wide range of phenomena, but that is not easily reducible to other principles. It is also open to scientific research that, in line with Sir John Templeton’s interest in the spiritual dimension of reality, may have downstream implications on philosophical or theological interpretations and explorations about concepts such as cosmic creativity, providence, and other metaphysical ideas.
The second cluster examines what it means to be human and how individuals and societies can evolve in ways that promote their flourishing. Much of TWCF's work over the past five years has focused on understanding how spiritual disciplines and character virtues such as love, gratitude, creativity, forgiveness, and compassion can have a transformative effect on people. "Sir John thought that by understanding these character virtues through rigorous scientific research, we have as much to gain as we do through medical research," says Higgs, who cited TWCF's long-standing support for forgiveness research as a compelling example of this approach.
"The Templeton philanthropies together really pioneered a lot of solid empirical research on the importance and value of forgiveness to people's lives," says Higgs. After decades of Templeton-funded research, there is a growing consensus that practicing forgiveness improves mental health and wellbeing, as well as awareness of spiritual realities that have a daily impact on our lives but have historically received little systematic study because they're perceived as intangible.
"We have recently been funding the next step, taking that research and creating tools for practitioners – mental health professionals, educators, religious leaders – so they can use it in practical, everyday settings."
The third area explores transcendent divinity and human responses to it, including questions about the nature of God (a higher power) approached across religious, philosophical, and cultural traditions. "Our founder held a deep respect for the spiritual wisdom of religions, but was agnostic about the adequacy of the word, “God” in our current understanding," says Higgs.
"He thought fundamentally that no one religion can lay sole claim to ultimate truth, and that we need to be humble." As a result, the Foundation does not favor any particular religious or theological tradition over another. Rather, it strives to encourage people of all religions to be open to new information and insights that can enrich and expand their understanding of God. To that end, the Foundation is open to projects that bring novel perspectives and diverse sources of data, such as data from the natural and social sciences, to bear on religious, spiritual, theological or philosophical themes and questions.
Humility sits at the heart of TWCF's approach. "The key thing for us, laid down everywhere throughout our charter, is humility," says Higgs. "Sir John thought religions ought to be humble about their claims to ultimate truth, and thought scientists needed to be humble about the kind of things they study and consider to be reality. Ultimately, he thought if we all approach things with more of an open mind, we can produce new knowledge and insights that will lay the foundations for amazing progress for humanity."
This commitment to humility, intellectual openness, and rigorous inquiry is foundational to what TWCF refers to as "holistic science," a concept drawn from Sir John Templeton's writings and further articulated in recent scholarship. In practice, holistic science is the opposite of reductive materialism, or the idea that everything can be fully explained by being reduced to basic physical components. Instead, it seeks to understand phenomena as part of a bigger, often mysterious whole. It is inspirational, pointing toward deeper questions of ultimate reality and spiritual progress; humble, open to challenge and revision while practicing science at the highest ideals; and inclusive, encouraging diverse contributions from the global scientific community and building capacity for new spiritual information across cultures.
Higgs hopes this philosophy will be reflected in the kinds of ideas TWCF receives during the global call for ideas. Specifically, big, contrarian, high-risk concepts that other funders might find too unconventional or open-ended. To that end, the theme is consistent with Templeton's investment philosophy, which emphasized going where others would not, and taking long-term positions rather than chasing trends. As a successful global investor who pioneered international investment strategies, Sir John wanted his foundation to operate similarly. "He always expected, if ideas were new and good, they'd be taken up," says Higgs. "He thought of us as kind of funding the R&D phase of research that bears on religious, spiritual or philosophical themes."
That said, TWCF draws a clear line between risk-taking and pseudoscience. Scientific research projects must be grounded in established empirical methodologies and remain open to falsification. "We don't fund ideas that aren't open to being wrong," says Higgs. "Sir John made clear he didn't want us funding pseudoscience." All grants will undergo extensive peer review by independent experts in the relevant fields.
Another aspect to this call is an emphasis on inviting early-career researchers to submit their ideas. "That's one of our areas of focus that we see as having potential for long-term impact, giving a boost to people who are at an early stage of their career," says Higgs. "Those are probably the people in not just one system, but in the global research ecosystem, who might struggle to get a foot in the door. We want to signal to early-career researchers that there are funders out there who are interested in big, crazy ideas."
The RFI process itself is designed to be accessible. Rather than requesting lengthy proposals, TWCF is asking for short pitches of several hundred words to be submitted through the RFI Ideas Portal. An informational webinar, to be held on December 4, 2025, will provide additional guidance. Questions from potential applicants are also welcome, and will be answered on a continually updated FAQ page as they are received.
TWCF will invite individuals who submit ideas that are chosen to be involved in the development of a strategic program area."We are committed to involving researchers in the initiative development process," Higgs emphasizes. However, he's also transparent about limitations. "What we cannot do is guarantee anyone any funding.”
Ideas that don't receive funding, however, may still benefit researchers in other ways. TWCF maintains a public repository of promising unfunded ideas from its previous RFI on its website, making them visible to other potential funders. "Many researchers report that the process has time and again proved to be instructive," says Tracey Farquharson, Senior Program Officer at TWCF. "It helps potential grantees learn more about what funders are looking for, and to refine their narrative accordingly."
With the launch of this global RFI, TWCF is inviting researchers and scholars everywhere to join in shaping its next era of exploration. For those working at the intersection of science and the deepest questions of human existence, it represents an opportunity not just to propose a project but to help define a future research agenda that could influence the Foundation's direction for years to come.
