Pew Research Center Launches $57,000 Grant Program to Fuel New Research on Global Religion and Spirituality
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A new initiative backed by the John Templeton Foundation will award up to 19 researchers $3,000 each to analyze comprehensive datasets on religious beliefs and practices worldwide.
WASHINGTON – Pew Research Center is actively seeking proposals from researchers globally to unlock new insights into the complex landscape of religion and spirituality. Supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation, the program aims to encourage the innovative reuse of data collected by the Center’s Global Religious Futures (GRF) project. The initiative will distribute a total of $57,000 in funding, offering individual grants of $3,000 to selected applicants.
The core of this opportunity lies in the GRF project’s extensive datasets, including the recently completed Spring 2024 Survey, which encompasses measures of religion and spirituality across 35 countries. Complementing this international data are comparable surveys conducted in 2023 and 2024 within the United States, offering a rich comparative landscape for analysis.
“We believe these datasets hold immense potential for advancing our understanding of religious trends and their impact on societies around the world,” a senior official stated. “By making this data readily available and providing financial support, we hope to stimulate a new wave of scholarly inquiry.”
Funding Details and Timeline
Researchers are encouraged to leverage these datasets for studies intended for presentation at social science conferences in 2026, with the ultimate goal of publication in academic journals and other reputable media outlets.
Key dates for prospective applicants include:
- Proposal Submission Deadline: March 2, 2026, by 5:30 PM EST.
- Applicant Notification: March 31, 2026.
- Draft Paper Submission: August 2026 (required for full compensation).
Successful applicants will be required to submit a research paper draft of at least 3,000 words to receive the full $3,000 grant. Payments will be made directly to individual researchers, and the Center affirms that researchers will retain full intellectual property rights to their final publications.
Application Process and Requirements
Interested researchers must submit their proposals via email to [email protected], attaching two PDF documents: a current curriculum vitae (CV) named “YOURNAME_CV.pdf” and a research proposal named “YOURNAME_GRFproposal.pdf.”
The research proposal should include the following:
- The applicant’s name, position, institutional affiliation, and email address.
- A project description – limited to 1,500 words – outlining the research question(s), the datasets to be utilized, and the potential contribution to existing knowledge.
- A statement – limited to 250 words – detailing the applicant’s expertise and resources relevant to the proposed study.
- (Optional) Information regarding the intended conference and publication outlet.
Collaborative Research and Data Integration
The Pew Research Center welcomes applications from researchers at all career stages, including doctoral students, and encourages both individual and collaborative proposals. In the event of a successful joint application, the $3,000 grant will be divided equally among the co-authors.
While the program prioritizes research utilizing the recent GRF datasets, researchers are also permitted to integrate these datasets with other data sources, including other datasets produced by the Pew Research Center. Applications demonstrating familiarity with previously published Pew Research Center studies and related research will be viewed favorably.
“We are particularly interested in funding studies that explore novel research questions and avoid duplication of effort,” one analyst noted. “We hope to support a diverse range of projects that push the boundaries of our understanding.”
Researchers are expected to conduct their research independently, though limited technical advice may be available from Pew Research Center staff. Questions regarding the opportunity can be directed to Conrad Hackett, Pew Research Center Associate Director of Research and Senior Demographer, at [email protected].
It is important to note that applicants acknowledge that Pew Research Center may concurrently develop its own publications utilizing the same datasets and addressing similar research topics. This acknowledgement is outlined in the program’s disclaimer.
