University of Oxford's Faculty of Theology and Religion Awarded Major Templeton World Charity Foundation Grant

The University of Oxford’s Faculty of Theology and Religion has been awarded a major grant from the Templeton World Charity Foundation to support The Quantum Worldviews Project; a new research initiative located in the Faculty’s Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion.   

 

Launching during the United Nations’ International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (2025), the project will investigate how quantum mechanics shapes human worldviews, identity, agency, and meaning. It brings humanities and sciences into dialogue at a moment when quantum technologies and quantum ideas are reshaping global culture.  

 

Quantum mechanics underpins vast areas of modern life, yet its humane and existential implications remain largely unclear. The Oxford team will explore how humans interpret and appropriate quantum ideas, and what it means to inhabit a universe that may be “quantum all the way up.”     

 

Principal Investigator of the research project, Professor Mark Harris said:   

 

“Quantum mechanics has transformed how we understand the natural world, yet its implications for human self-understanding have barely been explored. Many religious people already turn to quantum ideas to address existential or spiritual concerns, but these interpretations often overlook the deeper challenges and opportunities posed by the science itself. Our project seeks to clarify what it means for human beings to inhabit a universe that may be ‘quantum all the way up,’ and to understand how this shapes the beliefs, values, and worldviews through which people make sense of their lives.”   

 

 

The Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion (IRC) is recognised internationally for advancing rigorous, interdisciplinary engagement between scientific and theological enquiry. This new grant showcases the Centre’s distinctive ability to convene scholars across physics, philosophy, theology, and the social sciences to address pressing questions about the nature of reality and the human condition.   

 

 

By funding this landmark initiative, the Templeton World Charity Foundation is enabling the Faculty and the Ian Ramsey Centre to deepen their research into the complex intersections of science, religion, ethics, and culture. These are areas of enquiry that are central to University of Oxford's contribution to exploring the implications of modern science for human society, along with its global impact.    

 

 

The Ian Ramsey Centre (IRC), established in 1985, is an internationally recognised research centre at the University of Oxford dedicated to exploring the relationships between science, philosophy, and theology. It supports interdisciplinary scholarship on how scientific developments shape wider questions of meaning, belief, and human understanding.   

 

 

The Faculty of Theology and Religion is one of the world’s leading centres for the academic study of religion, bringing together experts in theology, philosophy, ethics, history, and the study of religions. The Faculty fosters rigorous research and teaching that illuminate the role of religion in human cultures, thought, and public life.   

 

 

Opening in 2025, the Schwarzman Centre provides a new interdisciplinary home for University of Oxford’s humanities faculties. Designed to enhance collaboration and public engagement, the Centre focuses on advancing research into what it means to be human in a complex world, offering cutting-edge facilities for teaching, research, and outreach.  

 

 

This project was made possible through the support of a grant from Templeton World Charity Foundation funder DOI 501100011730 through grant DOI.ORG/10.54224/33681.