His scientific research in ‘soft matter and biological physics,’ draws on collaboration with chemists, engineers, and biologists to study relationships between molecular structure and emergent material properties, and was recognized by major awards in the USA and Europe. He currently leads the UK ‘Physics of Life’ network, and holds a 5-year personal research fellowship focusing on the physics of protein signaling and the self-assembly of silk fibres.

Other academic interests include the framing of science, theology, society and history, and the theory of creativity in art and science, leading to the recent book The Poetry and Music of Science (OUP 2019). He co-leads the Ordered Universeproject, a large interdisciplinary collaboration re-examining scientific treatises from the 13^thcentury. He has also contributed to the philosophy of emergence (including the recent Routledge Handbook of Emergence 2019), and is embarking on a research project in cross-curricular education at York.

Two recent books, Faith and Wisdom in Science (2014) and Let There Be Science(with David Hutchings, 2017), articulate a theological narrative for science, and support his work co-leading (with Revd. Prof. David Wilkinson, Durham) the major project Equipping Christian Leadership in an Age of Science). 

Tom McLeish, FRS, is Professor of Natural Philosophy in the Department of Physics and also in the Centre for Medieval Studies and the Humanities Research Centre at the University of York, England. His research in ‘soft matter and biological physics,’ draws on collaboration with chemists, engineers, and biologists to study relationships between molecular structure and emergent material properties, and was recognized by awards in the USA and Europe.  He held previous academic posts at the Universities of Cambridge, Sheffield, Leeds and Durham, where he was Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research (2008-2014). He is currently on the Council of the Royal Society, and is a trustee of the John Templeton Foundation.