One of the three initiatives the Lilly Fellows Program sustains is the Residential Postdoctoral Fellowship Program.

Lilly fellowships are two-year residential fellowships for teacher-scholars who seek to renew and enrich their intellectual and spiritual lives while preparing for leadership roles at Catholic or Protestant institutions of higher education. Each academic year, three Fellows are appointed for two-year periods. Fellows are selected from applicants who evince an interest in the relationship between Christianity and the academic vocation and are considering a career at church-related colleges or universities.

Lilly Fellows are incorporated into a community of Christian teacher-scholars through:

• Teaching experiences in five to seven courses over two years in appropriate departments and Christ College (Honors College)
• Mentoring over the course of two years by a senior faculty member from the Fellow's discipline or Christ College
• Participation in weekly meetings of a two-year colloquium program led by Senior Fellows from Valparaiso University
• Research opportunities for scholarly or creative work in the Fellow's field and in the relationship of Christianity to the academic vocation
• Opportunities to develop contact with representatives selected from the Program's National Network of Church-Related Colleges and Universities
• Assistance in the second year with post-doctoral career planning and placement