Postdoc in developing new methods for delineating the boundary between life and non-life in astrobiology

The appointed Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) will undertake research on the use of image analysis to assess whether natural materials (e.g., from the early Earth or other planetary bodies) are biological in origin. This work will further the objectives of the Human Frontiers Science Program grant “Unambiguous Biosignatures for Life Detection”. The PDRA will take advice and supervision from Sean McMahon and the external PIs of this project. The aim of the grant is to develop new strategies for discriminating between non-biological and biological materials and patterns, i.e., for recognizing “biosignatures”, by leveraging new “big data” approaches, while also addressing the fundamental question of how, and to what extent, biology differs from non-biology.

Location: University of Edinburgh, Scotland

Application deadline: August 20th

Start date: December 2024

Project duration: 3 years

This is a full-time position based within the UK Center for Astrobiology in the Institute for Condensed Matter and Complex Systems in the School of Physics and Astronomy. The key contacts are S. McMahon (University of Edinburgh), J. Cleaves (Howard University) and M. van Zuilen (Naturalis Biodiversity Centre). Applicants with experience in extracting quantitative descriptions of shapes and structures from image data and analysing the results (e.g., with machine learning methods) are encouraged to apply.

Apply here!

5th AbGradE Workshop @ EANA 2024

As part of the year-long celebration of our 10^th anniversary, we present a one-day workshop on September 2^nd, 2024 in Graz, Austria!

Have you ever looked at a paper or listened to a conference talk about a topic that is relevant to you but from a different enough field that you don’t understand the methods or tools used? This workshop is here to help! The programme will include a symposium in the morning, during which participants will be able present their research focusing on the methodologies and tools they use, and a workshop in the afternoon, where we’ll explore methodologies and their criteria of excellence used in the different disciplines that make up the field of astrobiology. This workshop will define strategies on how to critically approach and assess a methods section in a paper or talk from a field you are not an expert in.

Click here for more details!

AbGradEPEC’24

We are back! AbGradE will once again team up with EPEC for EPSC2024, expanding network opportunities for early career scientists and students.

This year we invite you on Sunday, September 8^th in Berlin (Germany) at the Freie Universität for a symposium comprising of contributed talks and a workshop on professional development given by an ESA fellow and a former ESA intern. The event fee is 10 euros, details on how to pay will be sent to you in due course.

The deadline for registration is June 30^th and can be accomplished with the following form.

The deadline for abstracts is June 1^st. For contributed talks, please send a short abstract (max. 200 words) using the template to abgrade@eana-net.eu. We invite early careers to present the work that they either present as a poster at EPSC’24 or any other project not presented at EPSC’24. Letters of acceptance will be sent out by mid-June.

We look forward to meeting you in Berlin!