Siegel Family Endowment and John Templeton Foundation Grants Launch The Questions Lab, First Academic Initiative Dedicated to the Science of Inquiry

The Q-Lab will build the research, tools, and field infrastructure needed to make better questioning
a rigorous discipline and practical skill

NEW YORK, October 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Siegel Family Endowment today announced a multiyear grant to support the launch of The Questions Lab (Q-Lab), an initiative by The Governance Lab (The GovLab) dedicated solely to the science and practice of inquiry. Q-Lab will serve as a formal hub for advancing question literacy and building the emerging field of question science, helping organizations across sectors strengthen their ability to formulate rigorous, inclusive, and actionable questions.

The grant builds on Siegel's long-standing commitment to inquiry-driven philanthropy and follows the release of the foundation's white paper, Better Questions, Better Insights: How Philanthropy Can Harness the Science of Questions for Deeper Impact. Together, the white paper and Q-Lab investment signal a broader effort to move the science of questions from an emerging idea to a field with dedicated research, practice, and institutional infrastructure.

"We have spent years using inquiry as a grantmaking practice, but this work cannot live inside one foundation alone," said Joshua Elder, Senior Vice President and Head of Grantmaking at Siegel. "The Questions Lab gives the emerging science of inquiry a durable home. It creates the conditions for researchers, practitioners, funders, and communities to better understand what makes a question powerful, whose questions shape the agenda, and how disciplined inquiry can lead to deeper impact."

Siegel's support will help Q-Lab build the research, practical methods, and global community needed to make question formulation a more systematic and accessible practice across philanthropy, public interest technology, education, civic institutions, and other fields navigating complex social challenges.

The John Templeton Foundation is proud to join Siegel Family Endowment in supporting Q-Lab as it builds the intellectual infrastructure for a deeper and more humble culture of inquiry. "Many of humanity's most important advances begin not with an answer but with a question," said Timothy Dalrymple, President of the John Templeton Foundation. "At a moment when technologies can generate answers with remarkable speed, we have an opportunity to pay renewed attention to the questions that guide discovery, shape our understanding of the world, and open new possibilities for exploration."

As artificial intelligence and data systems make it easier to generate rapid responses, the ability to ask sharp, generative questions is becoming increasingly important. Q-Lab will focus on building the science of questions as both a field of study and a practical capability, helping leaders move beyond information gathering toward deeper insight, better decision-making, and more democratic agenda-setting.

"The future of problem-solving depends not only on better answers, but on better questions," said Stefaan G. Verhulst, Co-Founder of The GovLab and Q-Lab's Founder. "Q-Lab is designed to help individuals and institutions ask questions that are rigorous, inclusive, and actionable. We're excited to partner with Siegel and the John Templeton Foundation to build the infrastructure needed to make question science a discipline that serves the public interest."

To learn more, please visit questionslab.org.

About Siegel Family Endowment
Siegel Family Endowment employs an inquiry-driven approach to grantmaking, informed by the scientific method and grounded in the belief that philanthropy is uniquely positioned to address complex societal challenges. Rapid technological change has reshaped how we live, work, and learn, transforming the global economy and redefining access to opportunity – from schools and workplaces to our built environment. To meet these shifts, we support technology that serves the public interest, including the tools, skills, and systems people need to engage with and shape a rapidly evolving world. Siegel Family Endowment was founded in 2011 by David Siegel, co-founder and co-chairman of financial sciences company Two Sigma.

SOURCE Siegel Family Endowment