Chosen people in science lecture (5)
I believe the answer is:
elect
'chosen people' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'in science lecture' is the wordplay.
'in' indicates a hidden word.
'ELECT' is hidden in the letters of 'science lecture'.
(Other definitions for elect that I've seen before include "Choose by vote" , "Choose by voting" , "Put into power through the ballot box" , "Chosen - to vote" , "Appoint through ballot" .)