What does AbGradE stand for?

AbGradE (Astrobiology Graduates in Europe) is an independent association with the main goal of promoting scientific networking among early-career astrobiologists. It was initiated by EANA and it is managed by an enthusiastic group of PhD students and post-docs who are responsible for organizing activities that foster networking as well as give a broader background in the different disciplines that Astrobiology comprises.
A biennial symposium based in Europe is the main gathering for this purpose. In the intervening years between symposia, AbGradE organises a one-day workshop in line with EANA`s topic.
Everyone is welcome to join and participate in AbGradE!

The content of this website as well as the symposia are under the sole responsibility of AbGradE.

For any questions or comments, please don`t hesitate to contact us via abgrade (at) eana-net.eu.



We are pleased to announce AbGradE: Space Law and Governance. A virtual early-career meeting to be held on Friday 7th May, 2021!

This special AbGradE meeting will include keynotes, contributed talks, and group Q&A panel discussions. There will be a special focus on talks from students, early-career academics, and professionals working in the fields of Space Law and Governance, but all are welcome to attend!

We hope that the virtual nature of this meeting will allow many of our colleagues from Europe and around the world to join us. If you would like to register for the meeting, and perhaps submit an abstract for a talk, please fill out the registration form at https://forms.gle/ydrEMWUUXE2FcDMV6.

You will receive abstract guidelines upon registration and the deadline for abstract submission is 23:59 CET on Friday March 19th, 2021.

Presenters will be given 10-15 minutes to present their work to a multidisciplinary non-specialist scientific audience and invited to take part in group Q&A/discussion at the end of each session.

Participation fee: There will be no registration fee in this event

Key milestones:

• 19 March 2021: Abstract submission deadline
• Early April 2021: Notice of abstract selection
• Late April 2021: Final programme published
• 30 April 2021: Registration deadline
• 7 May 2021: AbGradE: Space Law and Governance Virtual Meeting

We very much hope that you will join us for “AbGradE: Space Law and Governance”!

Your AbGradE Committee


The first AbGradE Symposium took place on the 9th and 10th of October 2014 in Edinburgh prior to the EANA14 workshop.

In 2015, 2017 and 2019, we organized one-day mission proposal writing workshops at ESA ESTEC on 5th October 2015 in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, at the Ole Rømer-Observatory on August 13th 2017 in Aarhus, Denmark, and at the Hôtel Dupanloup on 2nd September 2019 in Orléans, France.

The second AbGradE symposium took place 25-27 September 2016 in Athens, Greece. The symposium was organized again immediately before the EANA conference, also held in Athens, Greece, 27-30 September 2016.

The third AbGradE symposium took place 22-24 September 2018 in Berlin, Germany.

AbGradE 101: Where early-career astrobiologists meet took place 25-27 May 2019 in Prague, Czech Republic, prior to the First General Assembly of the European Astrobiology Institute (EAI).

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak in Europe, it was unfortunately necessary to cancel the planned AbGradEPEC 2020 joint symposium/workshop in La Palma. We apologise for any convenience that this might have caused you. The meeting has been re-scheduled to 9th-11th April 2021, immediately before the re-scheduled European Astrobiology Institute BEACON meeting.
Please watch this space for further announcements about the rescheduled AbGradEPEC 2021 meeting. We look forward to seeing you next year in La Palma!

In 2020, we decided to explore new avenues and organised a "Virtual AbGradE 2020” on 26th August, 2020, immediately preceding the virtual EANA 2020 meeting.


AbGradE is happy to introduce our new newsletter. If your browser cannot display PDFs, you can also download the first issue here: http://www.eana-net.eu/Documents/2101_AbGradE_newsletter.pdf.

If you are interested in receiving this quarterly newsletter, please contact abgrade (at) eana-net.eu. Please, also use this email address to send us information you would like to share with our community in a future issue.