How little we know, how eager to learn
Sir John templeton

Overview

        Based on the success of the Science and Religion in Romania program (2004-2006), the objective of this project is to definitively establish the field of Science and Religion in the academic and media landscape in Romania in a way that is likely to have a knock-on effect in neighboring Orthodox countries. For this, the project will primarily focus on the development of research and education in Science and Religion at a national level as well as on a number of publications and specific media activities. The promotion of research, the setting up of numerous courses, the activities of the local groups in the majority of the large regions of the country, and the sustaining effect of a range of media activities will serve to consolidate and ensure the long-term development of the field of Science and Religion in Romania.

            This project will contribute to opening the field of Science and Religion to the Romanian Orthodox Church many of whose highest authorities will be involved in one way or another in the project. Over the course of three years more than sixty research projects and thirty university courses will be supported with this project, and more than twenty books will be published. In total, more that 130 researchers and post-doc students are willing to participate in this project and have submitted proposals for research, education, publication and media campaigns which are described here and in the annexes. This is the best proof of the enthusiasm for the field of Science and Religion in Romania, and suggests that the project will crystallize all this potential.
 

        Initially, we considered that any large regional project covering the Orthodox world would be doomed to failure, due to important differences on cultural and even religious levels. In particular, past conflicts cannot be easily erased. So, we had to start with solid local projects, with a view to building a future synergy.
        This is why this first project in Romania could be seen as a laboratory-test for former communist countries, in order to produce the catalyst of the needed regional synergy. The geopolitical situation of Romania, its role of stability in the Balkans and its past of tolerance make it an obvious candidate for creating a network of Orthodox researchers.
        Another idea was based on the fact that Orthodox Apophatism is a distinctive and original feature of Orthodoxy. Orthodox Apophatism is a natural partner of Quantum Apophatism, which is the very core of the scientific revolution of the last century, via quantum physics and the quantum cosmology. The dialogue between Orthodox Apophatism and Quantum Apophatism could lead to a deeper understanding of the meaning of a theology of humility in our complex times.

        The general aim of the program is to consolidate the foundations of the field of Science and Religion in scientific and academic circles in Romania. The strategy consists in increasing the number of research projects and courses in all the principal regions of the country using six local centers. These actions in the area of research and education will be accompanied with a concerted media campaign and numerous publications. All this will contribute to creating favorable conditions for the continuation of research in the medium to long-term in Romania. At the end of the project, three years after its commencement, the aim is that numerous new initiatives will be developed thanks to the momentum created by the project. The first project in Science and Religion in Romania led to an increase in the number of researchers from 20 to more than 130. There is no doubt that if the second project results in a similar growth, the community will be large enough to sustain itself in the Romanian academic landscape.
 

1) The new program is intended to provide an organized, coherent framework for the activities related to Romanian research and teaching in the area of Science and Religion.
2) In its new phase, the program will construct a national research network, connecting science and religion (mostly in connection with the Orthodox Church).
3) By attracting high representatives of the religious authorities in Romania, the program will be able to initiate an opening of the Orthodox Church towards a dialogue with science.
4) The program will contribute to the promotion of the spiritual and cultural values of the Orthodox religion in Romanian society. It will help solve certain conflictive situations and various crises at the social level. After all this is a period when people are searching for new identities and a new set of values.
5) Due to Romania's geographical situation, in the heart of a predominantly Orthodox region in the European South-East, with many problems of an ethnical religious, cultural and economical nature, this program intends to establish a precedent for an authentic dialogue, to create some equilibrium poles, to create a forum where all opinions can be expressed freely