UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Rock Ethics Institute (REI) and the Maurice K. Goddard Chair in Forestry and Environmental Resource Conservation are now accepting applications for the 2026–27 Faculty Fellows program.
The program offers a one-course release from teaching during a single academic year to support Penn State faculty with ethics-related research projects. For each awarded fellowship, the institute or Goddard Chair will provide up to $7,500 in buyout funds to the faculty member’s department or college to compensate for a course release.
The REI anticipates awarding four ethics-related fellowships this cycle — two with a focus in environmental conservation and policy.
The Faculty Fellows program has been a cornerstone of REI initiatives since the program’s inception in 2015, fostering innovative ethics-related research across disciplines, supporting interdisciplinary engagement and collaborations among faculty, and promoting moral literacy and leadership across the entire Penn State system.
A pivotal aspect of the fellowships is active participation within the Rock Ethics Institute's intellectual community. Fellows are encouraged to join in institute events and showcase their work at public forums.
The institute values projects that complement the research pursuits of the REI’s core faculty and fall within the institute’s research themes of food and agriculture, sustainability, technology, health, gender and sexuality, race, public life and global issues. Conservation and policy-focused projects that address forests, watersheds, land and climate-change themes, especially of relevance to Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic region, are also invited. Collaborations that involve community partners, students or curricular innovations are especially welcome.
Penn State faculty at all career levels are eligible to apply for Rock Ethics Institute Faculty Fellowships.
The deadline for applications is Nov. 7. Successful applicants will be notified by Dec. 12.
Please direct questions about Faculty Fellowships or the application process to Ben Jones, at btj7@psu.edu, or specific questions on the Goddard Environmental Policy Fellowships to Christopher Scott, at cascott@psu.edu.
The Rock Ethics Institute was established in 2001 through a $5 million gift from Doug and Julie Rock. The REI’s mission is to promote engaged ethics research and ethical leadership from its home in Penn State’s College of the Liberal Arts.