Faith and AI Faculty Fellowships

Research Theme Background

Faith-Based Ethical Approaches to Powerful AI

What role should faith traditions play in shaping the ethical future of artificial intelligence?

Throughout the 20th century, religious and faith-based communities were instrumental in many of the era’s most significant moral and social movements—from the promotion of human rights to advocacy for nuclear disarmament and leadership in the Civil Rights Movement. These examples illustrate the enduring capacity of faith traditions to provide moral clarity and shape the direction of public life.

Yet in the face of today’s rapid advances in artificial intelligence, faith traditions have remained largely silent. Ethical conversations surrounding AI are currently dominated by secular perspectives from philosophy, law, and computer science, while the rich moral resources of religious traditions have yet to offer sustained or cohesive engagement.

This call invites proposals for research projects that aim to break that silence. We welcome substantial, interdisciplinary projects that explore the ethical dimensions of artificial intelligence through the lens of religious traditions. Projects may engage a wide range of faith perspectives, academic disciplines, and methodological approaches.

Applicants might consider questions such as:

• How do the ethical teachings of Christianity or other religious traditions guide reflection on the design, use, or governance of AI?
• How could concepts such as dignity, embodiment, love, transcendence, and agency challenge or enrich dominant narratives about AI?
• How are faith communities currently engaging with AI in their practices, ministries, or institutional life?
• How could religious understandings of creation, stewardship, or human purpose shape critiques of AI development, techno-utopianism, or transhumanism?
• What role do religious rituals, doctrines, or narratives play in resisting, reinterpreting, or guiding technological change in the AI domain?
• How might religious approaches to moral formation and character development inform the design of AI systems intended to make or support ethical decisions?
• How might comparative study across religious traditions reveal distinctive or shared ethical responses to AI?

These questions are intended as examples—we encourage applicants to pursue other lines of inquiry that align with the overarching theme of faith-based engagement AI ethics.

Our aim is to foster rigorous, creative, and faith-informed perspectives that can meaningfully engage the ethical challenges and possibilities presented by artificial intelligence.

Program Details

Eligibility

Faculty Fellowships are open to scholars who are conducting a substantial research project related to faith-based ethical approaches to powerful AI.

Note: Scholars seeking a faculty fellowship who are working on love-based ethical frameworks should apply here.

Applicants from all academic disciplines are encouraged to apply, including—but not limited to—philosophy, theology, psychology, sociology, political science, computer science, engineering, law, literature, and the arts.

While most Faculty Fellows hold academic appointments at colleges or universities, the fellowship is also open to independent scholars, journalists, artists, and others whose work aligns meaningfully with the fellowship theme.

The majority of fellowships will be awarded to scholars external to the University of Notre Dame. However, Notre Dame faculty are eligible to apply, and a limited number of fellowships may be awarded to applicants from within the university.

Postdoctoral scholars and advanced graduate students are welcome to apply, provided they will have completed all Ph.D. requirements by May 1, 2026, and are within five years of earning their degree.

We welcome applications from scholars who are based outside the U.S. We also welcome applications from scholars from a variety of faith and cultural traditions.

Fellows are expected to be in residence for the full academic year (August through May). Semester-long fellowships are generally not available.

Research Support

Faculty Fellows receive half of their base salary per academic year (up to $80,000), subsidized housing (for those who currently reside outside of the South Bend area), a research allowance of $1,000 per year, and a private office at ECG.

Fellows' home institutions provide the remainder of their salaries as well as all benefits, including health insurance.

Postdocs receive a stipend of up to $80,000 paid directly to them (rather than to a home institution). Postdocs are also provided health insurance benefits.

The Faculty Fellows will be joined by a cohort of graduate fellows, postdocs, and program chairs from Notre Dame who are pursuing their own ethics-based research projects and collaborate with the Faculty Fellows during weekly research seminars and other ECG events.

Throughout the year, ECG will organize robust programming to further explore the institute research themes and cultivate collaboration, such as work-in-progress seminars, guest lectures, book clubs, film viewings, and social events.

Fellowship Expectations

All Faculty Fellows are expected to reside in the South Bend area and to remain in residence at the University of Notre Dame during the period of their fellowship (except for vacation periods, holidays, and University breaks).

Faculty Fellows are expected to be free of their regular commitments and to have their primary office at the Institute so they may devote themselves full time to the work outlined in their research proposal and participate fully in the community of scholars at the Institute.

Faculty Fellows are also expected to attend weekly seminars, present their research twice during these seminars, and attend ECG retreats, communications workshops, and other special events.

Public Engagement

ECG aims to support Faculty Fellows who are committed to making their research accessible not only to scholars from across the disciplines, but also, crucially, to the broader public who will benefit from engagement with these ideas and debates.

At ECG, Faculty Fellows present their research on these questions to their fellowship cohort, to faculty colleagues and special guests, and to the wider public each week during ECG's weekly seminars. These seminars come in a variety of formats, from masterclass sessions aimed at introducing key research components in an engaging way to public engagement workshops aimed at translating research insights for the public.

As part of their fellowship, Faculty Fellows also participate in multi-day fall and spring retreats that foster collaboration and provide tools and training to engage in ethical research and discussion with multi-disciplinary audiences and the community. These retreats vary from year to year, but in the past they have included a writing retreat, a workshop with a professional communications consulting group, and a workshop with an opinion editor at the New York Times.

Participation in ECG's weekly seminars and communications retreats is required for all Faculty Fellows—they are central components to making our year a success and a defining feature of our program.

Application Requirements

Applications for Faculty Fellowships must be submitted through Interfolio and should include the following:

• Completed online application form
• Cover letter
• Curriculum vitae (no more than four pages, single-spaced)
• Proposal abstract (no more than 400 words)
• Fellowship research proposal (no more than six pages double-spaced; research proposals may include a works-cited or bibliography page, which does not count toward the six-page limit). In the research proposal, applicants should provide an explanation of the project they intend to pursue at ECG, including:

• • How the proposed research aligns with the research theme and mission of the Institute
  • Preliminary objectives for the research to be conducted (i.e., whether the research might result in a book, journal article, art work, etc.)
  • The proposed work plan (including what research or work has already been accomplished, what will be done during the fellowship period, the methodology to be employed, and the organization of the scholarly project, book, or other work)
• Public-engagement proposal (no more than two pages, double-spaced). In the public-engagement proposal, applicants should explain how they plan to engage a public audience with their proposed research project (e.g., through a newspaper op-ed, public discussion, podcast episode, etc.).
• Two letters of reference. The letters should address the strength of the applicant’s proposed research project, its fit with the 2026-2027 research themes, and the applicant’s collaborative potential and collegiality. (See FAQ page for common questions about letters of reference.)
• (Optional) Up to two pages of non-text materials supporting the research proposal

Proposals will be evaluated on the basis of their potential for research impact, fit with the theme, and fit with the Institute’s mission.

Finalists will be asked to be available for a brief Zoom conversation with committee members during the final stage of the selection process.