The fellowship has no minimum education requirement beyond a B.A., nor any minimum or maximum age for applicants. Priority will be given to mid-career and senior journalists, though early career journalists may apply.

Fellows are not required to have formal academic training in the sciences, though this may be helpful. The most important criteria are an applicant's sincere analytical interest in science and religion, an intellectual curiosity about difficult issues, originality of thought displayed in previous writings, and a superior record of journalistic achievement. The Templeton-Cambridge Fellowship program is looking for those journalists who show promise of making a significant contribution to the public's understanding of the complex issues of science and religion.

Because this fellowship emphasizes immersion in the field of science and religion, fellows must be able to pursue the program full time.

The fellowship is open to journalists everywhere, but fluency in reading and writing in English is required.