A New Science of Virtues Grant Competition

In March 2009, almost 700 scholars and scientists from around the world submitted letters of intent as entry into this research grant competition. In January 2010, 40 finalists from this initial pool met in Chicago to present their project proposals. Of those, 19 have been selected to receive funding for the New Science of Virtues Project. This is a multidisciplinary research initiative that seeks contributions from individuals and from teams of investigators working within the humanities and the sciences. We support highly original, scholarly projects that demonstrate promise of a distinctive contribution to virtue research and have the potential to begin a new field of interdisciplinary study. A total of 19, two-year research grants totaling $3 million have been awarded, ranging from $50,000 to $300,000 each.

The New Science of Virtues Symposium took place in Chicago on January 28-30, 2010. Click here to view the program which includes summaries of each competing project. The winners of this grant competition are listed below.

Jeffrey Bishop
Associate Professor, Medicine and Biomedical Ethics
Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society
Vanderbilt University, United States

The Economy of Virtue: Virtue Theory in Light of Poverty and Neuroscience

Mary Kathryn Coe
Associate Professor, Health Promotion Sciences
Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health
University of Arizona, United States

Forgiveness as a Cross-Cultural Virtue that Facilitates Recovery from Historical Trauma

Edward Cokely
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Cognitive Psychology
Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition
Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Germany

The Heuristics of Virtue — Integrating Virtue Ethics and the Science of Heuristics

Jesse Couenhoven
Assistant Professor, Moral Theology
Department of Humanities
Villanova University, United States

Virtues and Perils of Forgiveness

Farr Curlin
Assistant Professor, Medicine
MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics
The University of Chicago, United States

Project on the Good Physician

James Fishkin
Professor, Communication and Political Science
Department of Communication
Stanford University, United States

Deliberative Democracy and the Virtues of Democratic Citizenship

Susan Greenfield
Professor, Pharmacology
Department of Pharmacology
University of Oxford, United Kingdom

What is the Neuroscientific Basis of Virtue in the 21st Century Mind?

James Heckman
Professor, Economics
Harris School of Public Policy
University of Chicago, United States

The Virtue of Self-Control

Talma Hendler
Assistant Professor, Medicine and Psychology
Faculty of Social Sciences
Tel Aviv University, Israel

The Great Virtue of Anger Control - What Culture Tells and Brain Records

Daniel Hruschka
Assistant Professor, Anthropology
Sante Fe Institute, United States

Virtues in Conflict: A Cross-Cultural Study of Virtue Dilemmas and Their Resolution

Peter Lawler
Professor, Government
Department of Government and International Studies
Berry College, United States

Toward a True Science of Being Stuck with Virtue

Dan McAdams
Professor, Psychology
School of Education and Social Policy
Northwestern University, United States

The Good Story: Generativity and the Construction of Virtue Across Generations

Gilbert Meilaender
Professor, Christian Ethics
Department of Theology
Valparaiso University, United States

Acceptance of Decline or Thirst to Live: The Challenge of Anti-Aging Research

Richard Miller
Professor, Religious Studies
Department of Religious Studies
Indiana University, United States

The Virtue of Empathy: Humanistic and Scientific Investigations

Laurie Santos
Associate Professor, Psychology
Department of Psychology
Yale University, United States

The Origins of Justice: A Comparative and Developmental Approach

Alesha Seroczynski
Associate Professor, Developmental Psychology
Department of Psychology
Bethel College, United States

Reading for Life: A Narrative Character Education Intervention for First-Time Offending Juvenile Delinquents

Donald Searing
Professor, Political Science
Department of Political Science
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States

The Virtues and Vices of Liberal Democratic Leadership

Nancy Snow
Associate Professor, Philosophy
Department of Philosophy
Marquette University, United States

Landscapes of Hope: The 'What', 'Why' and 'How' of Hope

Alex Tuckness
Associate Professor, Politics
Department of Political Science
Iowa State University, United States

The Death of Mercy