Elaine Howard Ecklund, founding director of Rice University’s Religion and Public Life Program, has led research and a number of surveys about the religious views of scientists worldwide. She has found the assumption ‘most scientists are atheists’ to be a myth.
Researchers have found that scientists do tend to be less religious than members of the general population in many countries - although in some countries the opposite is true. However, only a minority of scientists believe science and religion are in conflict. In the United States, this number is about 29%, and in the East, about 25%.