Summary: We propose to establish a multidisciplinary network of scholars to collaborate on research concerning the social and cultural aspects of the intersection of religion and astrobiology. Despite the great cultural traction and public interest in this topic, it has received little attention within the social sciences and allied disciplines (e.g., history). Our network will begin to rectify this.

Our project will ‘examine a social or cultural aspect of science [astrobiology]… in relation to [one or more] religious, spiritual or non-religious tradition[s], position[s] or worldview[s], including unbelief’.

We will do this by creating a network of interested scholars from a wide range of disciplines, career-stages (including ECRS and PGRs), and worldviews to approach this topic from a variety of different angles. This will foster novel, synergistic collaborations and outputs during both this stage of the project, and beyond this initial 24-month period. The network will primarily be based in the ‘Anglophone North Atlantic’ but given the expertise of scholars in other parts of the globe and the scarcity of scholars working in this area due to its recent emergence as a field of study, experts from other parts of the globe (Mexico, South America, India, etc.) have been and will be invited. This will benefit the project, and its participants, by bringing together scholars who would otherwise not encounter each other for geographical reasons. A key indicator of the project’s success will be the fostering of interdisciplinary collaborations beyond the initial 24-month period. These connections will create lasting benefits for the academics involved.

Institutionally, the network will be based at St Mary’s University, with the Lanier Theological Library (Houston, TX) the University of Notre Dame (Sydney, Australia) as partners.

In order to explore the overarching theme of this grant, each of our activities will address one of more of the three INSBS subthemes:

• The social scientific and historical study of the relationship between science and religious and/or non-religious belief and identity.
• Past and present media, or popular, representations of science, religion and belief in society
• International studies of religious or spiritual communities’ perspectives on the intersection, and possible relationships, between science and religion over time.

Our activities will include:

• A monthly online reading seminar/book club.
• A series of public seminars/lectures.
• Two one-day digital symposia.
• A final symposium/workshop to discuss further dissemination of work, consider next steps and prepare funding applications.

Our research outputs will, at minimum, include:

• An edited volume and/or special journal issue, focused on social-scientific aspects of the relationship between religion and astrobiology.
• At least two articles examining a social or cultural aspect of [astrobiology]… in relation to [one or more] religious, spiritual or non-religious tradition[s], position[s] or worldview[s], including unbelief’ submitted to peer-reviewed journals.
• At least one grant bid for further funding.

In addition, we will also create a RACS YouTube channel to archive and disseminate recordings of our events, as well as a Facebook group for network members which can also be used to connect with other potential collaborators. The activities will be implemented by the project investigators with input and support from their respective institutions and project collaborators. The long-term legacy of the projects will include resources on this topic for both the academic (journal articles, edited volume, etc.) and general audience (YouTube recordings); a dynamic, interdisciplinary, and international network of collaborators; as well as a bid for further funding.