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Supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation, the University of Pennsylvania Positive Psychology Center has established a new research initiative in Positive Neuroscience.

In July 2009, we announced the Templeton Positive Neuroscience Awards RFA to support innovative research projects at the intersection of neuroscience and Positive Psychology. The application deadline was September 30, 2009, and we are currently reviewing submissions.

Positive Psychology is the scientific study of the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive. With the Templeton Positive Neuroscience Awards, we seek to support talented young investigators conducting research aimed at gaining a better understanding of the ways in which the brain enables flourishing.

We will grant up to 20 two-year awards averaging $200,000 to methodologically rigorous projects that apply tools of neuroscience to positive psychological concepts in the following core areas:

Virtue, strength, and positive emotion: What are the neural bases of the cognitive and affective capacities that enable virtues such as discipline, persistence, honesty, compassion, love, curiosity, social and practical intelligence, courage, creativity, and optimism?

Exceptional abilities: What is special about the brains of exceptional individuals and what can we learn from them?

Meaning and positive purpose: How does the brain enable individuals and groups to find meaning and achieve larger goals? 

Decisions, values, and free will: How does the brain enable decisions based on values and how can decision-making be improved? What can neuroscience reveal about the nature of human freedom?

Religious belief, prayer, and meditation: How do religious and spiritual practices affect neural function and behavior?

Click here for more details and the official Request for Applications (pdf).