Category: Study

Registrations open for RED24 – An Astrobiology Introductory Course

The 2024 edition of the Rencontres Exobiologiques pour Doctorants  (RED’24 / Astrobiology Introductory Course) will take place from March 17 to 23, 2024 at the Reserve Ornithologique du Teich (France).

Its aim is to offer interdisciplinary training in astrobiology to students and young scientists with a Master’s degree in astronomy, planetology, geology, chemistry, biology, or the history and philosophy of science.

Thanks to the support of the school’s partners, they will be able to cover almost all registration costs. Participants will only have to pay for their own transport.

Lectures will be held in English.

>> Registrations are open until January 16th, 2024 <<

Discover the program and the speakers of this session on the school website

Fully funded PhD project at Dublin City University (Republic of Ireland)

Novel Biosignatures for Microfossil Interpretation

About the lab
The ProtoSigns Lab led by Dr. Seán Jordan in the School of Chemical Sciences at Dublin City University is at the forefront of pioneering research in the fields of Geobiology and Astrobiology. Their mission is to expand the experimental space for protocells, further our understanding of the origin of life on Earth, and develop innovative biosignatures for microfossil interpretation from Earth and beyond.

Position Overview:
This project aims to create a semi-automated microfluidic system, allowing for the rapid study of protocell formation, stability, and silicification under various environmental conditions. The resulting microstructures will undergo a suite of state-of-the-art analyses to generate a database of physical and chemical control data which will be statistically interrogated to identify novel biosignatures. The biosignatures will then be verified by applying them to geological microstructures from early Archean (ca. 3.5 billion years old) and Devonian (ca. 400 million years old) deposits. The successful candidate will contribute to the development of novel biosignatures and their application to microfossils from the early Earth and
potentially elsewhere in our Solar System.

Application deadline: 20th November 2023
Start date: 8th January 2024 (or as soon as possible thereafter)

For inquiries and to submit your application, please contact Dr. Seán Jordan

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

The Two-Body Problem in USA Academia

Are you considering applying for a faculty position in the USA this year? Facing a two-body problem? Worried if you should include this information in your application package, or during the interview?

The Earth Science Women’s Network will be hosting a webinar on November 7th, 2023, at 2:00 pm Eastern Time (19:00 UTC) to answer all these questions and more. A panel of assistant/associate professors within multiple earth science disciplines will share their experiences and “lessons learned”. This workshop is geared towards graduate students and post-docs considering an academic career in the USA.

The panel includes:

  • Rachel Bernard – Assistant Professor, Department of Geology, Amherst College
  • Alexandria Johnson – Assistant Professor, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University
  • Katherine (Kat) Allen – Associate Professor, School of Earth and Climate Sciences, University of Maine
  • Maria Rugenstein – Assistant Professor, Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University

There will also be an opportunity to network with our speakers after the panel discussion.

> Click here to register <

If you have any questions about ESWN’s events, you can email them at events[at]eswnonline[dot]org

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 <<