More than $1.5 Million Awarded to Advance Buddhist Studies Research, Teaching, and Public Engagement Across Three Continents

NEW YORK, May 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is pleased to announce the 2026 awardees of The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhist Studies. The program promotes the academic study of Buddhism, strengthens international networks of Buddhist scholars, and increases the visibility of new knowledge and research on Buddhist traditions. In 2026 ACLS proudly celebrates 100 years of grantmaking to individual scholars.

This year's fellows and grantees include one institution and 18 individual scholars, as well as six Public Impact Grants that will be announced in summer 2026. The 2026 cohort represents scholars across nine countries throughout Asia, Europe, and North America. Their projects engage questions about ancient texts, historical governance, and modern heritage preservation across a wide geographic and disciplinary range within Buddhist Studies.

• Four Buddhism Public Scholars will be placed in one- to two-year professional positions with Lion's Roar Foundation (Halifax, Nova Scotia), the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art (New York, NY), The Courtauld Institute of Art (London, England), and The Tricycle Foundation (New York, NY). These fellows will apply their academic expertise from their PhD training to strengthen the host organization's presentation of Buddhist art, thought, and practice to broad audiences.
• Nine Dissertation Fellows at universities throughout the world have each been awarded $40,000 for dissertation fieldwork, archival research, and writing. The fellows' research examines subjects including ecological management by Buddhist communities, institutional strategies to spread and govern Buddhist traditions across Eurasia, and the creation, maintenance, and mobilization of whole-body relics across Tibetan Buddhist diasporas.
• Five Early Career Research Fellows throughout England, Germany, Japan, Thailand, and the United States will receive up to $75,000 each to support emerging scholarship on topics such as the emotional themes of Jataka tales in universal and local contexts, Tibetan monastic reform and politicization across transregional networks, and historical precedents for the ordination of modern Tibetan and Himalayan nuns.
• A New Professorship Grant of $300,000 will allow Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA to establish a new tenure-track position in Buddhist Studies in the Department of Religion. The new professor will expand course offerings in Buddhist Studies and enhance partnerships with several campus centers focused on sustainability, global engagement, and social justice.

"The 2026 cohort of The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhist Studies demonstrates the vitality and reach of the field," said Daphne Weber, ACLS Program Officer of Buddhist Studies. "ACLS is proud to support rigorous, academic scholarship and professional positions that bring new knowledge and understanding of Buddhist traditions to broader communities who stand to benefit from it."

The Program in Buddhist Studies is made possible by a $7.5 million grant extension to ACLS from The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Global to advance research and scholarship in the field through fellowships and grants, nurture networks through annual symposia for early career fellows, and increase and diversify applicant pools across the globe.

Formed a century ago, the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is a nonprofit federation of 86 scholarly organizations. As the leading representative of American scholarship in the humanities and interpretive social sciences, ACLS upholds the core principle that knowledge is a public good. In supporting its member organizations, ACLS expands the forms, content, and flow of scholarly knowledge, reflecting our commitment to diversity of identity and experience. ACLS collaborates with institutions, associations, and individuals to strengthen the evolving infrastructure for scholarship.

Inspired and informed by the concept of interconnectedness, The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Global supports programs in arts and culture and Buddhism, and funds initiatives that enhance the wellbeing of humanity and the environment.

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SOURCE American Council of Learned Societies