REMINDER: RED26 (school of astrobiology) application deadline soon

We would like to remind you that the deadline for the French school of astrobiology (RED26 – Rencontres exobiologiques pour doctorants) is approaching. If you want to take part in next year’s school, the application needs to be sent BEFORE December 14th 2025.

From the RED website:

RED is a Training School about the “Basics in Astrobiology”. Astrobiology addresses questions related to the origins of life, its evolution, and distribution in the Universe. This school aims to offer an interdisciplinary training in astrobiology to students and young researchers having a master’s degree in astronomy, planetology, geology, chemistry, biology, or history and philosophy of science. If you are preparing a thesis or are an early career scientist with a subject related to astrobiology, this training school is for you! 

The registration form for RED 26 must be filled in and completed before December 14th, 2025. The number of places at the school is limited to 40 participants. The main target audience of the school is PhD students, but (…) second year of master’s students (conducting a research project in the frame of their studies) and early career scientists are also accepted. The cost for registration is 550 € including the full board stay (…).

Registrations open for The RED Astrobiology Introductory Virtual School – June 10th-14th

Rencontres Exobiologiques pour Doctorants  (RED / Astrobiology Introductory Course) is a Training School about the “Basics in Astrobiology”.

This school aims to offer interdisciplinary training in astrobiology to students and young researchers with a master’s degree in astronomy, planetology, geology, chemistry, biology, or history and philosophy of science. If you are a master’s student, preparing a thesis, or are an early career scientist with a subject related to astrobiology, this training school is for you! 

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.

From June 10th to 14th 2024, you are invited to participate in the Virtual RED Astrobiology School. This virtual school is based on the lectures from the “in-person” school held in Le Teich (France) in March 2024. Registering for the school will offer you the opportunity to listen to the lessons filmed on-site (given in English), interact directly with the lecturers, ask questions, and engage in conversations with other participants from all over the world!

Participants who watch the whole lecture series and succeed in short quizzes about it will receive a certificate of attendance. Live animations and Q&A sessions will be organized at CEST (UTC + 2), but you can watch the lectures and replays of the Q&A session at your convenience in your time zone.

>> Registrations are open <<

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

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

18th Heidelberg Summer School – Call for Applications

The “International Max Planck Research School for Astronomy &
Cosmic Physics at the University of Heidelberg
” (IMPRS-HD)

announces the

>> 18th Heidelberg Summer School <<
“Unraveling Galaxy Evolution with JWST”

The school is organized for early-career scientists and will take place on September 4 – 8.

It will focus on the most relevant aspects of galaxy evolution addressed by JWST, from nearby to the most distant galaxies.
JWST revealed surprises from its first images and is already
revolutionizing many fields of astrophysics.

The school will give the participants an overview of what we have learned about galaxy evolution in the first year of JWST observations, the emerging challenges, and the opportunity to work with JWST data guided by world-renowned experts.

The topics include an overview of JWST, the physics of nearby galaxies, the role of AGN feedback, the cosmic noon, and the high-z Universe.
The lectures will be accompanied by hands-on sessions and talks highlighting recent scientific results.

Invited lecturers are:

Steve Finkelstein (Univ. Texas Austin)
Adam Leroy (Ohio State Univ.)
Nora Lützgendorf (ESA)
Alice Shapley (UCLA)
Andrey Vayner (Johns Hopkins Univ.)

Hands-on session tutors are:
James Davies (MPIA)
Oleg Egorov (ARI)


The school SOC is:
E.Banados (MPIA), L.Boogaard (MPIA), F.Davies (MPIA), A.de Graaff (MPIA),
I.Momcheva (MPIA), N.Neumayer (MPIA), D.Wylezalek (ZAH)

>> Deadline for applications is June 15, 2023 <<

Registrations open for RED23 – Astrobiology Introductory Course

The 2023 session of the Rencontres Exobiologiques pour Doctorants  (RED’23 / Astrobiology Introductory Course) will take place, if sanitary conditions allow, from March 12 to 18, 2022 at the Reserve Ornithologique du Teich (France).

These meetings are organized for:

  • Any student preparing a thesis in Earth and Universe Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Life Sciences, Bioinformatics or History / Philosophy of Sciences.
  • Students wishing to acquire an interdisciplinary training in astrobiology to complete their initial training and to be able to address questions related to the origins of life on Earth and beyond, its evolution and its distribution in the Universe.
  • The school is also open to any young researchers interested in astrobiology

The RED’23 / Astrobiology Introductory Course program is complementary to the RED’22 program, however it is not necessary to have attended in 2022 to participate in this new school.

Lectures will be held in English.

Registrations are open until January 31, 2023. Some grants to participate are available, more about it on the website.

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

Astrobiology Introductory Course videos now online

The 2021 session of the Astrobiology Introductory Course (the 14th edition of the school) was held online from June 21 to 25, 2021. This online version generated several hundred registrations from all countries, and nearly 230 participants have taken all of the courses.

All the lectures are now available to everyone on the Youtube channel of the French Astrobiology Society. These videos also join the online database of astrobiology course videos on the Astrobiovideo site.

If sanitary conditions allow it, the next school session will take place in person from March 13 to 19, 2022. All information relating to this new school will be available from the beginning of October on the RED website.


List of lectures from the 2021 session:

Solar System Formation & Exoplanet formation & dynamics” – Sean Raymond (Astrophysicist)

Decoding lights from Exotic Worlds” – Jérémy Leconte (Astrophysicist)

Exoplanets & Habitability” – Emeline Bolmont (Astrophysicist)

Early Earth and Early Life co-evolution (1)” – Stefan Lalonde (Geochemist)

Early Earth and Early Life co-evolution (2)” – Johanna Marin-Carbonne (Geologist)

History, processes, and patterns in biological evolution” – Emmanuel Douzery (Biologist)

Are fossils the witnesses of evolution” – Jean-Sébastien Steyer (Paleontologist)

Prebiotic Chemistry in the Solar System” – Hervé Cottin (Astrochemist)

From Chemistry to Biology” – Kamila Muchowska (Chemist)

Artificial Life and Artificial Intelligence” – Hugues Bersini

Ethical issues in Astrobiology” – Jacques Arnould (CNES Ethics Adviser)

The Tree of Life” – Laura Eme (Biologist)

Life in extreme environments” – Karen Olsson-Francis (Biologist)

Solar System Exploration” – Jean-Pierre Bibring (Astrophysicist)