AbGradE symposium 2016

The second AbGradE symposium, 25-27 September 2016 in Athens, Greece


The term astrobiology is composed of the Greek words astros and biologia, meaning star, and logic and/or art/way of life. In 2016, it was thus a big tribute that Athens was in focus of Europe’s astrobiology community, as AbGradE’s symposium (25–27 September) immediately preceded EANA`s annual conference (European Astrobiology Network Association).

This year’s meeting started with a day tour through the most famous ancient sights, discovering the historic sites of former advanced civilisations. In the evening, an icebreaker event was organised in the surroundings of the Flisvos Marina. The symposium itself consisted of one and a half days of scientific sessions, including 7 keynote lectures, 15 talks by early-career scientists, and 13 poster contributions. Keynote lectures were given by a balanced mix of early-, middle- and late-career scientists, working in the different specialities of the interdisciplinary field of astrobiology. In total, 39 participants from 13 countries attended this symposium, contributing to making it a great success.

To maximise networking between participants, an informal picnic on one of the beaches of Athens served as a conference dinner.

The 2016 symposium was organised by Mickael Baqué, Bo Byloos, Marta Filipa Cortesão, Philippe Nauny, Lena Noack, Athanasios Papadopoulos, Petra Schwendner, and Ruth-Sophie Taubner.

Sponsors:

EANA

COST Action Life-Origins

EGU

Eugenides Foundation