- 13:00 - 14:30
- In person
- Mill Hill Chapel, City Square, Leeds LS1 5EB
- Free
Early years of scientific discovery and ministry in Nantwich – Dr Helen Cooke gives the 2026 Priestley Lecture
Since 1819, the Phil & Lit has been inviting the people of Leeds to hear from knowledgeable and entertaining speakers. Many are leaders in their field of science, arts or current affairs. We also organise occasional visits. Becoming a member means that you’ll receive invitations to all these activities. We run a mix of in-person, hybrid and online events. Scroll down to see upcoming events. Click on an event to book your space.
Early years of scientific discovery and ministry in Nantwich – Dr Helen Cooke gives the 2026 Priestley Lecture
Book launch
Professor James Cheshire, University College London
More details to be added soon
Dr Ralf Dahm: A talk in our long-running series on COLOUR: ‘Seeing the world through failing eyes: how eye diseases affect vision & transformed the work of famous painters’ – 19:30 Monday 12 January, Online only
Matt Edgar: ‘Good engines, bad statues: 200 years since the death of Matthew Murray 20 Feb 1826’ – 18:00 Thursday 19 February, Globe Point, Globe Road, Holbeck
John Cruickshank: ‘The merchants and the 1626 Charter: which was the chicken and which the egg?’ Thoresby Society event – LPLS members are invited to attend: 18:00 Thursday 19 March, The Leeds Library
Dr Christopher Hassall: ‘Aeroecology: revealing insect biodiversity with radar’ – a talk relating to the work of the Biodar Project – 18:00 Monday 23 March, Seminar Room 22, Parkinson Building, University of Leeds
Isabella Whitworth: Another COLOUR talk: ‘Founded on Purple: the Bedford family, Wood & Bedford and Yorkshire Chemicals’ – 19:30 Monday 13 April, online
Astbury Conversation 2026: LPLS members are invited to attend Designing Biology https://astburyconversation.leeds.ac.uk/astbury-conversation-public-event-2026/ Tuesday 21 April, University of Leeds
Joint event for our members and visiting members of Royal Glasgow Philosophical Society – Remaking a post-industrial city – a conversation with Martin Elliot, Chief Planning Officer, Leeds City Council – 16:00 Tuesday 12 May, Carriageworks, Millennium Square
Be Curious Festival: The Phil & Lit joins University of Leeds researchers to present enjoyable, creative activities to engage children from across Leeds – 11:00-16:00 Saturday 16 May, University of Leeds
Colin Campbell, CEO of the James Hutton Institute: ‘The spirit of Enlightenment science in the 21st century’ – Tercentenary of James Hutton, Scottish Enlightenment naturalist, founder of modern geology, b. Edinburgh 3 June 1726. Our joint online event 19:30 Tuesday 2 June
Mark Silver: ‘Shedding light on the Goth culture of Leeds’ – 13:00 Thursday 2 July, Leeds Art Gallery
John Roles Memorial Lecture: A lecture by Dr Sara Barker, School of History, University of Leeds, to explain the context of Leeds at the time of the Charter of 1626: ‘Wars, witches, rebellions and reading – surviving the unsettled 1620s in Europe’ – 13:00 Thursday 3 September, Henry Moore Lecture Theatre, Leeds Art Gallery
The Annual Priestley Lecture Helen Cooke:‘Joseph Priestley on his way to Leeds: early years of scientific discovery and ministry in Nantwich’ – 13:00 Tuesday 22 September, Mill Hill Chapel
Prof Ralf Dahm and Dr Kersten Hall talk about their new book ‘The dawn fisherman: Friedrich Miescher and the discovery of DNA’ – 13:00 Friday 9 October Thoresby Room, Leeds CIty Museum, Millennium Square
Professor James Cheshire, UCL – Tuesday 3 November ‘Hidden in plain sight: the secret maps of a forgotten map library’ Venue: tbc
Dr Ryan Seipke, University of Leeds: Progress on combatting anti-microbial resistance – During Antimicrobial Resistance Week 18-24 November, University of Leeds – evening
AGM Wednesday 2 December – at The Leeds Library, Commercial Street
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