Our primary grants fall into three categories.
(1) Research Fellowship Grants
Research Fellowship grants offer approximately 16 Christian scholars (roughly 8 Biola professors and 8 external professors from other institutions) up to $45,000 per semester to live and work in residence at Biola University to produce individual research on topics related to that year’s focal theme. Our residential research fellowship program is interdisciplinary, interdenominational, and community driven; and it has received stellar reviews from former Research Fellows year after year. Common research projects include book manuscripts, peer-reviewed articles, quantitative and qualitative studies, scholarly presentations, collaborative projects among several scholars, public lectures, and much more. Research Fellows meet weekly as a group for focused review, discussion, and constructive criticism of each other’s work; Visiting Scholars give regular private seminars to provide insight from experts across many disciplines; Fellows develop professional scholarly friendships over the course of the semester which produce joint efforts that outlive the fellowship program and often result in co-authored books, papers, and further research projects.
(2) Pastor-in-Residence Grants
Pastor-in-Residence grants offer 2 Southern California pastors (1 per semester) the unique opportunity to receive $10,000 to join the scholarly research fellowship community in order to read, learn, and discuss critical issues related to a given year’s research theme in the context of local church community life. They also act as representatives of non-academic public perspectives on our research themes, providing insight that pushes our Research Fellows to refine their ideas in light of common human experience. Each pastor develops a 6- to 10-part sermon series that they preach in their church following their semester in residence. Our pastoral fellowships create a broad network of connections to the local church, allowing CCT events and resources to extend into the broader non-academic public.
(3) Course Development Grants
Course Development grants offer 2 scholars at external institutions $15,000 to develop course curriculum to teach at their home colleges or universities. Course Development grant-winners produce a complete syllabus focused on teaching topics related to a given year’s research theme within their own discipline. These professors will teach this course at least twice in the four-year span following the award.
