These hubs anchor a growing interdisciplinary community dedicated to advancing research on how intelligence manifests in many different forms.
Templeton World Charity Foundation (TWCF) is pleased to announce the launch of three global research hubs dedicated to advancing the study of Diverse Intelligences (DI), with a combined investment of nearly $2.8 million USD.
The goal is to sustain and grow the burgeoning DI community, an interdisciplinary effort exploring intelligence across humans, other species, and artificial systems. Based at Princeton University, the University of St Andrews (in collaboration with Indiana University), and Macquarie University, the hubs will serve as field-led anchors for collaboration, training, and exchange.
The launch builds on nearly a decade of DI activity catalyzed by TWCF. The DI Priority began in 2016 and has fostered collaboration among researchers in neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, anthropology, biology, AI and more. As TWCF shifts focus to new strategic directions, the hubs will become central to the community, supporting early-career researchers, hosting convenings, and fostering international partnerships across six continents.
As TWCF’s decade-long DI Priority approaches the end of its active grantmaking and development phase, the Foundation wants the community it helped seed to thrive far beyond any single funding cycle.
"DI has been one of the longest-running initiatives at the Foundation, but even as it draws nearer to its close, there's a lot of potential for it to grow into more than just a small group of TWCF-funded grantees—into a larger community of scholars and researchers studying intelligences from any and every avenue and direction—a very collaborative, interdisciplinary community marked by intellectual humility,” says Virginia Cooper, TWCF Advisor for Programs in Discovery Science.
DI has supported many projects, but these hubs forge institutional homes that connect those projects into a coherent, collaborative framework.
“At TWCF we’re always thinking about the long-term impact of our work. These hubs represent an investment in the future—perpetuating a growing community of researchers, curious about the ultimate nature of intelligence in our universe,” adds Dr. Nick Higgs, TWCF’s Vice President for Strategy & Programs.
Below is a brief overview of each hub.
Directed by Andrew Barron, this hub’s objectives are to foster early-career leadership and catalyze collaborations addressing critical challenges such as artificial intelligence (AI) development, the evolution of cognition, and human cognitive wellbeing.
Research initiatives planned include:
Planned education and engagement are expected to include Short-Term Fellowships, Catalyst Workshops, regional DI events, and a Living Archive—a dynamic repository of shared knowledge supported by science-communication specialists. These initiatives prioritize inclusivity, with emphasis on early-career researchers and those returning from career breaks.
Led by Tom Griffiths, Tania Lombrozo, and Sarah-Jane Leslie, this hub aims to support interdisciplinary research taking a comparative approach to artificial intelligence (AI) and cognitive science that informs and is informed by comparative approaches to human and non-human minds.
Research initiatives planned include:
Planned education and engagement are expected to include a short Winter Fellows program and science-communication training. The hub will benefit from resources at Princeton’s AI Lab and its existing Natural and Artificial Minds initiative.
Josep Call and Amanda Seed lead this hub at the School of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of St Andrews, which aims to facilitate interdisciplinary research on diverse forms of intelligence, including animal cognition, human creativity, and artificial general intelligence (AGI).
GRCDI plans to allocate 50% of this initial funding to seed grants, supporting early-career researchers and global partnerships piloting projects such as AI-driven behavioral modeling and citizen-science initiatives.
GRCDI will collaborate with Indiana University’s (IU) Center for Possible Minds, with a Program for Advanced Research in Diverse Intelligences, run by Jacob Foster and Erica Cartmill, to co-fund postdoctoral fellowships and train the next generation of DI researchers.
Research themes planned include:
GRCDI will host the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute, organized with the IU team, and a DI Summit. Planned public engagement is expected to include partnerships with Edinburgh Zoo and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums to develop educational exhibits, a DI Summer School for high school students in 2026, and regular “DI Evenings” in St Andrews.
