SRI - Faith & Science Foundations Seminar -  2027 Application (DUE no later than Friday, November 20, 2026)

We welcome your school's application to the 14th annual Science & Religion Initiative (SRI) Foundations Seminar! These seminars, funded by a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation, are for helping teachers and administrators at Catholic high schools to bring faith and science into dialogue, based on St. John Paul II's principle that "science can purify religion from error and superstition; religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes."

To get an idea of the Foundations 2027 topics, speakers and activities, please see the schedule from Foundations 2026. The required pre-seminar Reading Program consists of about 350 pages - the 2026 Foundations Reader can be reviewed here.

The Foundations 2027 seminar will be from Sunday, June 13  at 4:00 PM ET- Friday June 18, at 12:00 PM ET. It will be held at St. Francis Retreat Center in DeWitt, Michigan, with trips to Michigan State University and Lansing Catholic HS.

Upon completion of the seminar reading program and week-long event, participants receive:
  • $900 stipend (for full participants who complete the reading program, pre-seminar discussions and the week-long seminar, with implementation of an SRI Lesson Unit during the 2026-2027 academic year and reporting by one or more team members), AND
  • A professional development certificate from the University of Notre Dame (60 hours)
To be eligible for participation, participating schools must cover the cost of participant travel (airfare + ground transportation) to St. Francis Retreat Center.  During the event, all lodging, meals and activity transportation will be provided in full will be provided by SRI for each participant.

IMPORTANT: Please submit the names of all teachers on your proposed team in THIS application - we will only accept one application per school. Schools should attempt to produce a team representing three of these four subject areas: biology, physics, chemistry, and religion/theology. Academic administrator attendance is highly encouraged. Schools that demonstrate interest and support from their school administration, especially administrative participation in the application process, will be given priority consideration. 

Teams from Schools with no past participation: Please note that you will also need to submit brief essays (250-500 words each) in answer to the following three questions:
(1) What do you hope to learn and achieve through participating in the seminar? (Note: The program does not directly engage bioethics or environmental ethics.)
(2) Will you be able to implement interdisciplinary engagement between science and religion at your school with faculty and students? (Note: Administrative support is crucial to such an effort.)
(3) Have your teachers worked together in the past to bring science and religion (or other disciplines) into dialogue? If so, how? (Note: This could include any curricular or extracurricular activities, as well as individual faculty or full faculty professional development activities, including (but not limited to) attendance at past SRI seminars).

Teams from Foundations Alumni Schools (if in doubt, email cbaglow@nd.edu)
Please note that you are invited, but not required,  to submit brief essays (250-500 words each) in answer to the following three questions:
(1) How has your school implemented and built upon your previous participation in regard to faculty enrichment? 
(2) How have your teachers and administration made faith-science integration a priority at your school?
(3) How will Foundations 2026 participation help your school extend and strengthen efforts to integrate faith and science? (Note: This could include any curricular or extracurricular activities, as well as individual faculty or full faculty activities. Some indication of the proposed team member's ideas and intentions is recommended.)

This form saves partial progress, so you may begin the application and return to complete it.

Applications are due no later than Friday, November 20, 2026. Applications will be reviewed in the order received, and those approved for participation will be informed promptly. Space is limited to 55 onsite participants. A waiting list will be created once these numbers are reached.

Thank you for your application, and for all you do in service of your students. We hope that you can join us!

Chris Baglow, Academic Director
Heather Foucault-Camm, Program Director
Science & Religion Initiative
McGrath Institute for Church Life
University of Notre Dame
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