Tag: EAI

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! <<

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) •

Conference “Commercial Space Exploration and Travel – Chances and Risks”

The meeting “Commercial Space Exploration and Travel – Chances and Risks” organised by the EAI will take place at Malmfälten Adult Education Centre in Kiruna (Sweden ) from September 25th in the morning to September 27th in the evening. It will bring scientists, students, politicians, journalists and other stakeholders together to discuss the ethical, political legal, societal and environmental aspects of commercial space travel.

Apart from offering a very interesting programme, the meeting will take place during Lapland’s very beautiful Indian Summer, which enables good opportunities to see the Northern Lights. The following themes will be covered:

  • Legal, ethical and societal issues concerning commercial space exploration
  • Environmental issues concerning space exploration
  • Protection of extraterrestrial bodies
  • Spin-offs of scientific space exploration
  • International cooperation in the commercial use of space: will space exploration be restricted to a few powerful countries and regions?
  • Space research and exploration as a chance for remote regions in Europe
  • Global governance efforts regarding the commercial use of space
  • Mining of extraterrestrial bodies
  • The future of commercial space travel

Please check the website for more info.

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.

Conference “Life in the sub-surface”

The meeting “Life in the Sub-Surface: Habitats, species, metabolism and survival strategies” organised by the EAI will take place in Angra (in the Azores Islands, Portugal) from the 25th to the 27th of October 2023. It will focus on the following subjects:

  • Characteristics of (potential)  sub-surface habitats on Earth and beyond
  • Early evolution of subsurface life including its possible role in emergence of life
  • Diversity, metabolism and survival strategies of subsurface life on Earth
  • Possibility of extraterrestrial subsurface life and its detection
  • Gaps in the knowledge about subsurface life
  • Subsurface environments and extremophiles on the Azores.

 It will be held at the very modern Centro Cultural e de Congressos offering
ideal setting. The location Angra (in the Azores Islands, Portugal) is a picturesque city and has plenty of good restaurants and clean and affordable hotels with good
services.

The EAI project team “Astrobiology and Art” will organise a multimedia event on the first day. The speleological society “Os Montanheiros” will organise an exhibition of life in Azorean lava caves.

 >> The deadline for registration and abstract submission is July 1st,
2023 <<

Please check the website for more info.

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

AbGradEPEC 2023 is in almost 1 week!

We are really looking forward to finally having this long-awaited event in La Palma🌴

Here is the programme, packed with interesting talks, workshops and fun activities:

All participants should expect one last email from us with more practical details and the Symposium Booklet📖

We’ll see some of you soon, and hopefully we’ll be able to meet those who couldn’t join us this time at our next events!