Category: Study

The EAI Academy

The European Astrobiology Institute (EAI) is back for the academic year 2023 – 2024 with the third edition of the EAI Academy!

A series of 15 didactic talks and discussions by experts in the field, the seminars will once again be offered for free and will be streamed online via Zoom every two weeks on Wednesday from 3:00 to 4:00 PM CET.

The EAI Academy will provide a framework to meet online with the European astrobiology community and acquire interdisciplinary knowledge through a series of seminars given by experts in these fields.  Each session will include a 30-40 minute didactic talk followed by about 20 minutes of questions and answers.

The sessions will be hosted by the Center for Astrobiology (CAB), who will issue a certificate of participation to those who attend at least 10 seminars (remember to add your name and affiliation to the chat in order to be eligible for the certificate!).

>> Click here to learn more! <<

3 days left to complete your registration!

The deadline for registering for AbGradE’s 4th Workshop is coming up soon – this Thursday, August 31st!

You’re still in time to register, head over >> here << to fill in the form.

❗Remember❗: registration is complete only after the payment of the registration fee (details will be sent in an email after we receive your registration entry).

Don´t miss out on the opportunity to discuss science with other early-career scientists!

1 month left to complete your registration!

The deadline for registering for AbGradE’s 4th Workshop is in a month – August 31st!

Head over >> here << to register.

❗Remember❗: registration is complete only after the payment of the registration fee (details to be given after completing the registration form).

Don´t miss out on the opportunity to discuss science with other early-career scientists!

Fully funded PhD project at the University of Leicester (UK)

Developing a habitability index for Earth’s biosphere

Planet Earth has been continuously habitable for over 3 billion years. During that immense time the Earth has been subject to considerable environmental perturbation, resulting from both intrinsic and extrinsic forces. These range from the smaller-scale, such as solar radiation changes from orbital forcing mechanisms, to the very large scale, such as an asteroid strike. The biosphere has shown considerable resilience to environmental perturbation and provides the only quantifiable measure of habitability available to us in the Cosmos.

In this project, the group seeks to examine and quantify the response of the biosphere to different levels of perturbation.

>> More details about the project can be found here <<

Supervisors: Mark Williams, Tom Harvey, Sergei Petrovskiy and John Maltby
Contact: Mark Williams (mri@le.ac.uk)

Deadline approaching for EAI’s summer school and conference in Portugal

Both taking place in Angra do Heroismo (Azores Islands, Portugal) in October, the deadline for application to the Summer school “Volcanism, Plate Tectonics, Hydrothermal vents and life” and the deadline for registration and abstract submission for the Conference “Life in the sub-surface” are on the 1st of July (in just 4 days!!)

You will be able to apply and/or register at the following links:
• Summer school (11 – 21 October 2023) •
• Conference (25 – 27 October 2023) •

PhD Opportunities In Interdisciplinary Space Sciences and Planetary Research in Austria

The Young Researcher Program YRP@Graz welcomes applications for PhD positions. YRP@Graz is jointly supported by the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the Graz University of Technology, and the University of Graz.

The application process has two stages designed to decrease selection biases:

  • Stage 1: applications are submitted through an anonymised questionnaire (deadline: July 7)
  • Stage 2: selected applicants are invited for an interview.

Expectations for the candidates:

  • Early-career researchers who are interested in an interdisciplinary exchange based on a solid university education in at least one subject of natural sciences or engineering.
  • Candidates who would like to actively join the YRP@Graz initiative, helping to develop the tradition of the involved institutes.
  • Excellent researchers who have the courage to cross scientific borders in a responsible way and to support the international societies with their research.
  • Team players who aspire to continue their skill development, as well as to support the research location Graz.

>> Details about the offered projects can be found here <<

Workshop: Microsatellites and their use in planetary and astrobiology research

Running in Tartu (Estonia) from the 1st to the 8th of August 2023, this workshop will enable students and early career scientists to design micro- and nanosatellite missions tackling scientific themes and target objects they have chosen themselves previously. The workshop will consist of three parts:

  • a lectured part consisting of in-depth talks on the scientific background of the chosen mission themes and on important issues in satellite technology
  • a mission designing part where attendees plan these endeavours in detail with the help of satellite technologists
  • a final presentation of all the projects

In order to plan missions involving such small satellites successfully, intensive interaction and cooperation between scientists and space technologists are necessary, which is still lacking in some potential key applications. The workshop school aims to:

  • Highlight the possible potential of microsatellites in exploring different targets like the Moon, small bodies and outer satellites
  • Foster the interaction between space researchers and technologists
  • Allow participants to start the design and planning of new space missions
  • Contribute to the training of a new generation of space researchers

The work on the mission designs will continue after the workshop, thus ensuring a long-term impact.

The European Astrobiology Institute, University of Tartu and Stockholm University Astrobiology Centre will function as co-organisers of the workshop.

The workshop will consist of lectures by leading scientists, planning for different micro- or nanosatellite projects in small groups, as well as open discussions. Participants will also have the possibility to display their own research results in a poster session. Furthermore, a one-day excursion to South Estonia and a walk around Tartu are included as a social programme.

For further information, please check the website.

Summer school “Volcanism, Plate Tectonics, Hydrothermal ventsand life”

The summer school organised by the EAI will focus on which role volcanism, plate tectonics and hydrothermal vents played in the emergence and evolution of life.
There will be lectures by leading scientists in the field, sampling excursions to lava caves and solfatares, exercises on the genetic characterisation of
extremophiles populations in those habitats, as well as on cultivation of
bacteria.

The summer school will take place in Angra (in the Azores Islands, Portugal) from the 11th to the 21st of October 2023. There
are flights to the close Terceira Lajes airport from both Europe
mainland, the US and Canada.

The summer school will include:

  • Lectures by leading scientists in the field covering a cornucopia of different subjects
  • Field excursions to geologically interesting sights (volcanic areas, hot springs, lava caves, etc.)
  • Exploration of lava caves
  • Characterisation of microbes in lava caves and hot springs via Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
  • Poster sessions
  • Participant-led discussions

 >> The deadline for applications is July 1st, 2023 <<

Please check the EAI website for more info

Summer school “Impacts and their Role in the Evolution of Life”

The course organised by the EAI will give the participants a thorough introduction into
how meteorite, comet and asteroid impacts participate in shaping
life on Earth. The following subjects will be covered by the lecture:

  • Roles of impacts in the formation of habitable planets
  • Physical and chemical properties of comets and meteorites
  • Detection and investigation of impact craters by geological meth and remote sensing from space
  • Ecological consequences of impacts and the role of impacts in mass extinctions
  • Transfer of life through meteorite impacts
  • Threat of life on our planet by near-Earth asteroids and comets

The lecture programme will be complemented by practical exercises concerning:

  • Investigations of Suevite formations
  • Analysis of pollen indicators impacts events.
  • Microscopy of impactites
  • Outreach work for a conference on “Impacts and their role in the evolution of life” in Nördlingen in autumn 2024

 The summer school will be held in Nördlingen (Germany), the centre of the Ries Crater impact, from the 5th to the 14th of September 2023.

Lectures will cover a cornucopia of subjects ranging
from properties of impactors, physics of impacts, ecological
consequences of impacts, impact geology to impacts on Mars. Exercises
will comprise geological field studies at the Ries and the
neighbouring Steinheim crater as well as palynological and
petrographic microscopy studies.

Many leading scientists will teach a
the school.

Bursaries are available for students and early-career scientists.

Nördlingen is a very nice medieval city situated on the
“Romantic Road” with an intact city wall and offers good
accommodation and meals. It is easy to reach from the international
airports from Munich and Frankfurt as well as by train.

 >> The deadline for applications is 15 June 2023 <<

Please check the EAI website for more info