The Institute for Humane Studies is seeking proposals for ideas on what intellectual resources are needed to increase abundance in key areas. Please read through this carefully, as this is not your typical request for proposals.
We are not looking to make one-to-one grants to individuals. Instead, we want to discover what resources IHS should develop to support the work being done and unlock more abundance in these key areas.
This project is made possible by the generous support of the John Templeton Foundation. The aim is to bridge the divide between academic ideas and real-world application. Our hope is that by discovering what bottlenecks exist in these issue areas, what ideas are needed to overcome these bottlenecks, and what resources academics need to pursue these ideas, we can provide key resources and convening opportunities in these areas.
Select contributors will be invited to a workshop on Thursday, April 23, in Washington, DC.
We are interested in proposals in the following areas:
- Housing
- Health
- Energy
- AI/Technology
- Immigration & Workforce
- Permissionless Innovation
- Governance (the systems that facilitate abundance)
If you think we have missed an opportunity outside of this, feel free to propose something.
This process will be a giant brainstorm, so do not focus on your proposal being perfect. If you have multiple ideas, please include all of them instead of trying to decide which idea is the best idea.
Again, this is not a request for direct grant funding. Our direct grant applications can be found here.
Proposals
Please email all proposals to JeanneHoffman@TheIHS.org with the following subject line:
[Issue Area], ABUNDANCE RFP, [Primary Contact First name, Primary Contact Last Name]
The proposal should include, as applicable, in addition to any other context you would like to provide:
- Name
- Organization
- Team members / co-authors working with you on this issue
- What is the bottleneck / issue?
- What ideas are needed to explore it?
- What resources are needed for researchers to pursue this issue?
- What other needs exist in this area?
Proposals are due January 15, 2026.
As an example, here is a previous problem we addressed:
- Some states have increased what tasks medical professionals (such as nurses and psychiatrists) are allowed to do under their licensing system, but other states are hesitant to follow their lead due to concerns about safety.
- We need more information about the safety and health outcomes in these states.
- Academics are often unable to access health data to do this comparison due to high costs and HIPAA requirements. They would need access to datasets such as X, Y, Z in order to do this work.
Proposals are due January 15, 2026.
