Author: Silvana

Third IAGC International Conference on Water-Rock Interaction & Applied Isotope Geochemistry (16-21 June 2025)

📅 When: 16-21 June 2025
📍 Where: Cagliari, Sardinia
❗ Registration Deadline: 31 December 2024

Get ready for an exciting gathering of global experts and researchers at the Third IAGC International Conference on Water-Rock Interaction (WRI-18) and Applied Isotope Geochemistry (AIG-15). It’s a chance to explore the latest breakthroughs, share ideas, and connect with a worldwide community.

Why attend?
🔹 Network with experts — Build connections and spark collaborations.
🔹 Showcase research — Present your work and explore opportunities for publication.
🔹 Experience Sardinia — A stunning backdrop of beaches, mountains, and rich cultural heritage.

While you’re there, take time to soak in Sardinia’s natural beauty, explore its ancient ruins, and experience its vibrant local traditions.

Check out the event details >>here<< and register online!

Spring School “The birth of Solar Systems” – registration deadline approaching

The deadline for the registration to the Spring School “The birth of Solar Systems” organised by the European Astrobiology Institute and the COST Action ”The Birth of Solar Systems” (CA22133) in in 2 days (November 30th)!


As a reminder, the school will be held in Bertinoro (Italy)  25 February – 6 March 2025

The event is aimed for graduate (masters and PhD) students and early career scientists. Senior scientists and citizen scientists are also eligible but have lower priority. The event is open to applicants from all nationalities.

Bursaries are available for researchers and students from almost all European countries (See a list at: https://www.cost.eu/actions/CA22133/#tabs+Name:Management%20Committee).

TPlease find all the information about the spring school at the website: https://europeanastrobiology.eu/the-birth-of-solar-planets-summer-school-homepage/

Spring School “The birth of Solar Systems” (Bertinoro, Italy,  25 February – 6 March 2025)

The European Astrobiology Institute and the COST Action ”The Birth of Solar Systems” (CA22133) will organise

Spring School “The birth of Solar Systems”
“Evolution, observation and modelling of protoplanetary disks and planet formation”
Bertinoro, Italy,  25 February – 6 March 2025

The school will be held in very nice settings at the Bertinoro Castle, close to Bologna, overlooking the Padanian valley during the blooming of the cherry and peach trees in the quaint small town of Bertinoro.

The school will consist of the following parts:

  • Introductory talks into the basic issues of the course subjects by participants
  • Lectures by leading researchers on
    • Formation of stars and planetary systems
    • Formation and early evolution of protoplanetary disks
    • Late stages of protoplanetary disks and formation of planets
  • Practical exercises working with data from the Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA)
  • Poster sessions

The event is aimed for graduate (masters and PhD) students and early career scientists. Senior scientists and citizen scientists are also eligible but have lower priority. The event is open to applicants from all nationalities.

Bursaries are available for researchers and students from almost all European countries (See a list at: https://www.cost.eu/actions/CA22133/#tabs+Name:Management%20Committee).
These bursaries will cover:

  • Travel to and from the venue by economy class flight and/or equal surface transport
  • Accommodation during the summer school (24 February evening – 7 March morning) at the course venue
  • Meals (breakfasts, lunches, dinners) from dinner on 24th February until breakfasts on 7th March
  • Coffee breaks
  • Excursions

The application deadline is 30th November 2024. Please find all the information about the spring school at the website: https://europeanastrobiology.eu/the-birth-of-solar-planets-summer-school-homepage/

Planet Mars VI workshops in Les Houches (France), March 30 – April 4 2025

Planet Mars VI will be the sixth edition of a series of workshops which has taken place at the Les Houches School of Physics (French Alps) since 2003. These workshops are organized to bring together senior scientists, junior scientists, postdocs and PhD students in order to optimize the analysis and interpretation of space data, and to prepare the community for the best exploitation of forthcoming missions. Leading Mars scientists in the interpretation of data and modelling will present their views on key topics, from the deep interior to the ionosphere of Mars, as well as Phobos science.

> The deadline for registration is November 29, 2024 <
Workshop information can be found >>here<<

Please note the number of spaces is limited to 70, and early career researchers are especially encouraged to attend.

Opportunity with the Space Generation Advisory Council on two papers for GLEX 2025

An opportunity for early-career planetary scientists to collaborate with the Space Generation Advisory Council on two papers for the Global Space Exploration Conference (GLEX 2025) has come up! They are looking for passionate individuals who are capable of carrying out in-depth research, have a strong critical mind and are natural team players. Applicants who have a background or interest in planetary geology are especially desirable.

The projects are 1) Ocean Worlds 🌊 and 2) Asteroid Hopping ☄️. The role of the selected applicants is predominantly on the selection of landing sites for such missions. 2-3 team members are expected to be selected per project.

Applications are due by Sunday the 3rd of November at 23.59 GMT. Any questions get in touch with Ciaran Jenkins.

This is a great opportunity for ECR planetary scientists to connect with the global space community that you might not meet within academia, including engineers, lawyers and policymakers.

For more information and to apply >> click here <<

Online public outreach event: ‘Exoplanets and the Ariel Mission – Searching for signatures of life on strange worlds’ on October 31st

The Centre for Planetary Sciences at UCL/Birkbeck is delighted to announce the next event in their free ‘Adventures in Planetary Science’ public engagement series ‘Exoplanets and the Ariel Mission – Searching for signatures of life on strange worlds’, taking place on Thursday 31st October, from 5:30pm GMT. This will be a virtual event held online with Zoom.

It is estimated that our own Milky Way Galaxy is home to at least 100 billion planets and, with over 5700 detected over the past few decades, these strange new worlds orbiting other stars have become an important and fascinating area of scientific study.  Join to hear from exoplanet and astrobiology experts about how we explore these alien planets and what they could reveal about the search for life beyond Earth. Since it’s Halloween, they’ll be sharing some details of the many “horrifyingly inhospitable” exoplanets discovered so far!  You can also dive a little deeper into the bewitching world of exoplanets by putting your questions to the panel during the Q&A following the talks.

The event will feature talks from Professor Giovanna Tinetti (UCL, Head of Astrophysics Group and Ariel Mission Science Lead), Dr Andrew Rushby (Birkbeck, Lecturer in Astrobiology and co-host of the ExoCast podcast), Alex Thompson (UCL, PhD researcher in exoplanets and founder of the Orbyts STAR programme) and Dr Gordon Yip (UCL, post doctoral researcher in exoplanets and machine learning techniques, Lead of the Ariel Data Challenge). Dr Catherine Regan (West Virginia University, post-doctoral researcher in planetary science and recent winner of the IoP Jocelyn Bell Burnell medal for exceptional early-career contributions to physics by a female physicist) will be the host for the evening.

Don’t miss out! Register for your free tickets on Eventbrite now:  https://CPS-exoplanets.eventbrite.co.uk

For further information about the event please see the event webpage.

Post-doctoral Researcher in Astrochemistry/Planetology at the University Aix-Marseille, PIIM laboratory (Marseille, France)

A stimulating opportunity for a postdoctoral research position (F/M) up to two-year is available at the ASTRO Team of the PIIM laboratory of CNRS/Aix-Marseille University to perform space weathering experiments on solar system analogs.

The project is part of French Research National Agency grant, ORGAMISS project. The project intends to question the fate of organic matter in mineral matrices at the surface of airless bodies through irradiation experiments, and define biases for the detection of OM in solar system bodies, especially asteroids and Mars. The experiments will be performed in collaboration between different laboratories in France (PIIM, IAS, LISA) and will be analyzed mainly with infrared spectroscopy for direct comparison with extraterrestrial samples and remote observations. This experimental work is to tackle some of the most intriguing questions around organic matter: its preservation or destruction favoured by specific conditions (type of irradiation) with minerals on the surface of extraterrestrial bodies. The goal of the project is to create a database of samples that could be used for space mission data.

The preferred candidate will have a PhD (or close to completion) in astrochemistry, planetary sciences, chemistry or a closely related field, with knowledge and familiarity in spectroscopic techniques (IR, UV, Raman) and experimental works. The candidate will join a vibrant astrochemistry research group within the PIIM laboratory (ASTRO team) in Marseille, France.

Review of applications will begin on 18/11/2024 until the position is filled. Please send a CV, a description of research interests, a publication list, and email addresses of 2-3 referees as a single PDF file- to Vassilissa Vinogradoff. The starting date is expected to be January-February 2025.

For more details click here.

2 years Post-Doctoral position in analytical chemistry in the context of extraterrestrial sample analyses and Origins of Life (Aix-Marseille University, France)

Context:
For the past 15 years, the ASTRO team at the PIIM laboratory of CNRS/Aix-Marseille University has been investigating the origin of organic matter in the solar system, focusing on its potential role in prebiotic chemistry on early Earth. They have developed experimental approaches and analytical methods to study the chemistry of dense molecular clouds, the formation of protoplanetary disks, and the incorporation of primitive organic matter into asteroids and comets. This matter, potentially delivered to Earth via meteorites 4.3 to 3.8 billion years ago, may have contributed to the emergence of life.

Objectives of the scientific project:
The project aims to advance analytical methodologies, particularly using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and mass spectrometry (MS), to characterize organic matter in extraterrestrial samples like meteorites and mission returns. The candidate will contribute to liquid chromatography analyses and methodology development, while supporting other team projects.

The ASTRO team already has significant experience in high-resolution mass spectrometry and seeks a candidate with expertise in HPLC-MS and data analysis related to these techniques.

  • Application Deadline: Open until filled
  • Starting date: January 2025
  • End Date: January 2027

For more details click here, while you can contact Prof Grégoire Danger if you have any questions.