Grants and Prizes

The Lilly Network of Church-Related Colleges and Universities funds several special projects for Network institutions and awards two prizes.

Developed by the Lilly Fellows Program in cooperation with the National Network Board, these projects are intended to advance the overall mission of the Program, and to increase the participation of Network institutions in the activities and formative experiences of the LFP. These projects are held at LFP Network colleges and universities and are organized by faculty and /or administrators from the host institutions.

All LFP colleges and universities are encouraged to apply for programs supported by the National Network. Applications that involve faculty in STEM, professional fields, or the social sciences are especially encouraged. Applications are screened and grants awarded by the National Network Board.


Sponsored Programs

Mentoring Programs encourage junior faculty to acculturate themselves to the ethos and traditions of a particular Christian institution through the mentoring of senior faculty and academic leaders.

Network Exchange Programs allow network institutions to showcase distinctive projects, programs, or institutes that highlight the Christian or church-related characteristics of their institutions to faculty and administrators from other Network schools.

Collaboration and Conferences Grants invite conversation about issues of church-related higher education among faculty who share a common concern.

Small Grant Program makes available to Network Schools small grants of $1500 and $3000 for projects that strengthen church-related higher education, but that are outside the scope of the other sponsored programs.

Click Here to view a Lilly National Network Grants Q&A Video
Click Here for A Guide to Writing Lilly National Network Grant Proposals

Prizes

The Arlin G. Meyer Prize is awarded biennially to a full-time faculty member from one of the colleges and universities in the Lilly Fellows Program National Network, whose work exemplifies Christian scholarly and artistic practice. The $3000 prize honors Meyer, who served as program director of the Lilly Fellows Program from its inception in 1991 until his retirement in 2002.

The Lilly Fellows Program Book Award honors biennially an original and imaginative work from any academic discipline that best exemplifies the central ideas and principles animating the Lilly Fellows Program. These include faith and learning in the Christian intellectual tradition, the vocation of teaching and scholarship, and the history, theory, or practice of the university as the site of religious inquiry and culture.

Noteworthy News

September LFP Update

The Current LFP Update for September 2023 is now available. Click here.


Registration is now open for the 2023 National Conference

Registration is now closed for the 2023 National Conference, "Contemplating Integral Ecology for the Common Good," on October 20-22 at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI. Click here for more information about the conference, including the schedule. 


Registration is now open for the 2023 Administrators Workshop

Registration is now closed for the 2023 Workshop for Senior Administrators on the topic, "Fostering Hope in a Polarized Age," October 19-20, at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI. Click here for more information about the workshop, including the schedule.


Announcing the winner of the 2022 Arlin G. Meyer Prize

We are pleased to announce Gordon Johnston, Professor of Creative Writing at Mercer University, as the winner of the 2022 Arlin G. Meyer Prize in Imaginative Writing for his book of poetry, Scaring the Bears. For more information and to see the finalist for this prize, click here.


Lilly Network of Church- Related Colleges and Universities

If you are interested in learning more about membership in the Lilly Network of Church-Related Colleges and Universities, please contact us here.


New edition of Leading Lives that Matter released

In their second edition of Leading Lives That Matter, editors Mark Schwehn and Dorothy Bass compile a wide range of texts—from ancient and contemporary literature, social commentary, and philosophy—related to questions of vital interest for those who are trying to decide what to do with their lives and what kind of human beings they hope to become. Leading Lives that Matter has been an important text in many of our fellowship and grant programs, and it contains excellent resources. Click here for more information and an excerpt.