A key driver for Britain leaving the EU is the perception that immigration is out of control as a consequence of EU freedom of movement rights. As the UK carves out a new place for itself on the European and world stage we welcome Ben Ryan, Head of Research at the Theos Think Tank and editor of the book Fortress Britain, to explore with us the ethical bases for immigration and refugee policies. How do we discern between migrants and…

With an ageing population and an ever increasing list of treatable conditions the NHS has come under huge pressure as more and more is expected of the service. The relatively simple care offered by the NHS in 1948 has been transformed by medical and technological advances all of which have come with a price tag. We welcome this evening Ron Martin, the lead chaplain of Dorchester County Hospital who will, with the aid of a colleague from the hospital senior…

Dame Jocelyn Bell-Burnell - courtesy RSE Faith and Science are often thought as mutually exclusive. Moreover, science is commonly seen as gradually whittling away the space left in our world for God. The discovery of the so-called 'God particle' at CERN in 2012 and the sheer immensity of the universe we see in the night sky can all conspire to question the place, even the need for God in our society. We welcome this evening the renowned astro-physicist Prof Dame…

DATE TBC Professor Nigel Crook is head of Robotics and Machine Learning at Oxford Brookes University. In this talk he will explore whether we can build robots that have good moral character – and whether or not we should. He will broadly outline some existing approaches to building ‘autonomous moral machines’ and offer his own thoughts on what should be the key components to such machines. The idea of robots being able to make decisions based on a form of…