Overview
Happiness and Well-Being: Integrating Research Across the Disciplines is a three-year, $5.1 million project based at Saint Louis University, and is aimed at fostering dialogue and collaboration among well-being researchers across a wide range of disciplines, including the sciences, philosophy, and theology and religious studies. The project is funded mainly by a $4.6 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation, with $453,000 in additional funding from Saint Louis University. The project leader is Dan Haybron, Professor of Philosophy at Saint Louis University.
The project will include a variety of components aimed at researchers as well as laypersons, including conferences and online resources, but the bulk of funding will go to a number of sub-grants aimed at supporting research on well-being.
Grants
One key innovation of the project is that all scientific studies funded by the project will include at least one philosopher, theologian or religious studies scholar. About $2.5 million dollars will be used to fund such studies, which will range up to $310,000 each. Another $800,000 will fund studies in philosophy and theology and religious studies. All told, between 12 and 20 such grants will be awarded through the project. The project is open to a wide range of topics relating to happiness and well-being, with a major focus on the psychological aspects of well-being. Some other topics of special interest include cross-cultural studies of well-being; measures of well-being; and the relation between well-being and a worthwhile life.
Other highlights
Three conferences that will bring funded researchers together to share and discuss their work
A small summer development workshop for young well-being researchers aimed at building a cohort of interdisciplinary-minded scholars for the next generation of well-being research
Three workshops for St. Louis area well-being researchers, aimed at building relationships and dialogue in the local academic community
A three-year post-doctoral fellowship in philosophy at Saint Louis University
- A capstone conference at the end of the project that will gather all project participants, along with other researchers
Web resources for researchers and the public
Further components and activities will be announced on the News page, as well as on Facebook and Twitter
Dates for the
sub-grant competition
July 1: Project start date. Request for proposals (RFP) posted at this website
Oct 15: Letters of intent due
Dec 15: Invitations to submit full proposals
Mar 15: Full proposals due
Jun 1: Award decisions made
Sep 1: Funded projects start by this date
More Info
Information about grant opportunities
Further details will be posted at this website. For more information, contact the project at wellbeing@slu.edu.
For media inquiries or to schedule interviews, call Jeanette Grider in University Communications at 314-977-2538.
