Young people aged 15-16 are exploring science and faith on Thursday 15th November at OMG Science!: Unlocking a world of wonder. This event is taking place at Abbey Grange Academy, Leeds and will be hosted by a team from the Universities of York and Sheffield, The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion and the Archbishop of York Youth Trust.

Each attendee will receive a conference pack including the book ‘Let there be science’ written by Prof Tom McLeish and David Hutchings – one of the key note speakers at this event.The OMG! Science: Unlocking a world of wonder event is funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation as part of the ‘Science and Congregations’ project administered by St Johns College, Durham.

Evidence revealed from the LASAR (Learning About Science and Religion) Project has suggested that young people in England today are unlikely to access the view that science and religion are compatible, despite this being something that many scientists accept wholeheartedly.

Dan Finn, the Director of the Archbishop’s Youth Trust, who is coordinating the event said:

“It is our hope that this event will enable young people to make discoveries in both science and faith and recognise that these can go hand in hand. The different speakers throughout the day will allow for a day of discovery on unlocking the wonders of our world”.

Students will have the opportunity to hear keynotes from Dr Rhoda Hawkins (Senior Lecturer in Physics at the University of Sheffield) and Dave Hutchings (Physics Teacher at Pocklington School). Creative and practical workshops will include: ‘Fossils and Faith’ led by Lizzie Henderson, ‘The Giant Cosmodone’ led by Prof Matt Probert; ‘The Nano World’ led by Dr Phil Hasnip and Helen Sharples and ‘Of Wolves and God’ led by Steph Bryant.

A free lesson resource pack including a session plan, powerpoint and worksheets has been created by the team at the Archbishop of York Youth Trust to download. Designed to help Key-stage 3 students begin to explore their views on science and faith, students will look to answer the question ‘is it possible to be a scientist and have a faith?’