Upcoming Astrobiology Conferences
To add a conference, workshop or training school, please log-in as EANA member and submit information there, or send an e-mail to eana-web (at) eana-net.eu.
  • Astrobiology Science Conference (AbSciCon)
    2024-05-05 to 2024-05-10, Providence, Rhode Island, USA

    The Astrobiology Science Conference (AbSciCon) brings the astrobiology community together every two years to share research, collaborate, and plan for the future. Join the astrobiology community for a robust gathering of scientists and exchange of knowledge. #AbSciCon24 will be held in Providence, RI on 5-10 May 2024.

    We welcome a diverse community of scientists, students, journalists, policymakers, educators and organizations who are working toward a world where our global collaborations and partnerships can carry us into a sustainable future.

    Registration: 2024-05-04

  • International Astrobiology School 2024 - 10th AbGradE Anniversary
    2024-05-21 to 2024-05-24, Florence, Italy

    Astrobiology is one of the hot topics of today´s scientific research, attracting the interest of multiple, complementary disciplinary fields. Therefore, the training of new generations of researchers with an interdisciplinary background in this field is more topical and urgent than ever. Thus, the organisation of the School of Astrobiology will give master´s and doctoral students from all over the world the opportunity to attend a series of lectures on the salient topics of astrobiology. Speakers of both national and international importance, belonging to different disciplinary fields, will present the main results of their research, providing the necessary tools to face the challenges of astrobiology. The school is organised in collaboration with AbGradE (Astrobiology Graduates in Europe), which brings together European Bachelor´s, Master´s, PhD students and post-doc researchers working and studying in the field of astrobiology, to celebrate the association´s 10th anniversary.

  • EAI General Assembly 2024
    2024-06-04 to 2024-06-06, Frankfurt, Germany

    The EAI General Assembly will run under the heading “Astrobiology: Recent Highlights and Future Key questions.It will take place from 4th June 2024 in the morning to 6th June 2024 in the evening at Hessenpark Open Air Museum close to Frankfurt. Its main aim is to present past highlights of European Astrobiology and, especially detailed planning of the activities of our Working Groups. The EAI General Assembly will be held as a hybrid event with possibility for on-line participation but in the pursuit to foster fruitful discussion about future projects and initiatives of the EAI physical presence is encouraged.

    A limited number of bursaries for students and early career scientists (up to 8 years from their first PhD. in a related field) from EAI institutions (see a list here) will be available. Participants from EAI Institutions selected by the EAI for bursaries will be offered free conference packages (lunches, coffee breaks), and accommodation (2-7 June) in a single room at one of the conference hotels during the conference.

    No registration fee is charged for attending the EAI General Assembly.

  • Planetology, Exploration, Terrestrial analogs, Robotics, Astrobiology, Spectroscopy
    2024-06-10 to 2024-06-24, Vulcano, Aeolian islands, Italy

    The PETRAS Vulcano School 2024 is a Summer School aimed at PhD students, but also open to master’s students and post-doctoral researchers. This is a result of a collaboration between DLR, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, University of Perugia and European Astrobiology Institute

    PETRAS Vulcano School 2024 is part of the Vulcano International Summer School initiative which has been ongoing since 2015 and has been funded over the years by Helmholtz Alliance Robotic Exploration of Extreme Environments (ROBEX), Europlanet, ARCHES and iFOODis.

    PETRAS Vulcano School is recognized by the PhD Board of the Earth System and Global Changes doctoral course of the University of Perugia which recognizes one ECTS credit for each day of attendance (full attendance: 9 ECTS credits).

    PETRAS Vulcano School promotes a multidisciplinary approach, involving volcanologists, geophysicists, astrobiologists, electronic/mechanical engineers and computer scientists to provide a 360-degree vision of the different skills needed by the planetary sciences community. Furthermore, you will have the opportunity to join a research group and collect useful data for your academic career.

    For years, the school’s organizational team has presented the results of field research at various conferences, including school participants who actively contribute to data collection and analysis. The research and working groups will be approximately the following:

    Vulcanology
    Planetology
    Spectroscopy (Raman, VNIR, LIBS)
    Astrobiology
    Exploration (Drone surveys, Photogrammetry, 3-D modeling, Integrated Positioning System IPS)
    Geophysical investigations
    Robotics


  • Society for Social and Conceptual Issues in Astrobiology (SSoCIA)
    2024-06-23 to 2024-06-25, Kiruna, Sweden

    The Society for Social and Conceptual Issues in Astrobiology (SSoCIA) will hold its fifth biennial meeting June 23-25, 2024 in Kiruna, Sweden. SSoCIA is an international and highly interdisciplinary group of scholars and other experts dedicated to investigation of the many social, cultural, and conceptual issues surrounding humanity’s future in space. For our 2024 meeting, we welcome submissions addressing any of the many “broader questions” in astrobiology and space exploration.
    Previous presentations have included:
    • Should there be private property in space?
    • Is human colonization of other worlds morally permissible?
    • Should we attempt to contact extraterrestrial intelligence (METI)?
    • What does “pollution” mean in the context of a lifeless world?
    • What is “life”?
    • What moral obligations might we have towards extraterrestrials?
    • How can we overcome problems inherent in interspecies communication?
    • What would be the religious significance of a “second genesis”?
    • How should off world colonies be governed?
    • Is the prime directive an appropriate ethical principle to use for first contact?
    • How do our attitudes towards space reflect unexamined cultural tropes?
    • How can we use astrobiology to further science education?

    This year, we are very fortunate to have an excellent keynote speaker in Dr. Tony Milligan.

    Abstract submission: 2024-06-01

  • 45th COSPAR Scientific Assembly 2024
    2024-07-13 to 2024-07-21, Busan, South Korea

    The 45th COSPAR Scientific Assembly in Busan, Korea, July 13 – 21. COSPAR 2024 will bring together approximately 3000 scientists and engineers from the all over the world to present the latest results in 153 symposia covering all areas of space science from space life sciences to space exploration and offering also interesting opportunities for students and young scientists to get a general overview about space research and to start networking.

    Early Registration Deadline: 2024-05-03

  • Are We a Unique Species on a Unique Planet? – or are we just the ordinary Galactic standard?
    2024-07-30 to 2024-08-02, Copenhagen, Denmark

    From exoplanets to biology to future of life
    Homo sapiens may be the only species in the entire Galaxy with an intelligence advanced enough to understand how it all arose and evolved. But we may also be so dumb that we just don’t understand that the universe is already teaming with life everywhere, similar, or very different from ourselves. Each of the scenarios would be equally fascinating, and the sign of a road towards a meaningful answer has never been closer than it is today. We are lucky to have convinced world-leading experts to come to Copenhagen to discuss the issue with us during four intense conference days.
    The meeting starts with discussing the achievements and perspective toward understanding how planets form and how planetary systems around other stars look like compared to our own solar system. Is there something special about our Earth, or maybe in the formation and configuration of the entire Solar system, that could make us suspect that life arose only on the small blue dot where we (happen to?) live? Do basic physics and chemistry demand that the same starting conditions will always lead to the same, habitable, or inhabitable, planetary outcome?
    The first pre-biological molecules seem to have formed already in the dusty clouds that seeded the planet formation, but did they play a role for the later rise of the first life? Earth-sized planets seem to be among the most common exoplanets, and a large fraction of them are within the habitable zone of their host star. But does this number tell us anything meaningful about how common life is? --and once life has arisen, does biology then tell us anything general about which direction it will take?
    Evolution on Earth brought us to what we may consider the climax of obtainable intelligence, but could reality be that we are just a stepping stone in evolution’s trajectory toward creating the first non-biological intelligence, which will sooner or later be responsible for bringing the universe itself to life? Are there ways in which we can observe if alien civilizations are on the same track, and how it went for them? In other words, are we in the front of behind “the great filter” of evolution?


    Registration Deadline: 2024-07-01

  • Early Career Workshop: Microsatellites and their use in planetary and astrobiology research
    2024-08-24 to 2024-08-31, Tartu, Estonia

    The aim of the workshop "Microsatellites and their use in planetary and astrobiology research" will be to enable students and early career scientists to design micro-and nanosatellite missions tackling scientific themes and target objects they have chosen themselves previously. he workshop will consist of a lectured part, a mission designing part, and a final presentation of 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 work on the mission designs will continue after the workshop, thus ensuring a long-term impact.

    The workshop will consist of lectures by leading scientists, planning of 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 is included as a social program.

    The European Astrobiology Institute (EAI), Univeristy of Tartu and Stockholm University Astrobiology Centre will function as co-organisers of the workshop. A limited number of bursaries for students and early career scientists from EAI institutions will be available.



    Application deadline: 2024-05-01
    Registration Deadline: 2024-06-15

  • EANA 2024
    2024-09-03 to 2024-09-06, Graz, Austria

    After a very successful EANA2023 in Madrid, we are happy to announce that EANA2024 will take place from September 3rd to 6th 2024 in Graz, Austria. It will be hosted by the Space Research Institute (IWF) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW) in cooperation with the Technische Universität Graz. The venue will be the "Alte Technik", which was the original building of the new Imperial and Royal Technical College built in the 1880s.

    Please, mark the first week of September 2024 in your calendar! Further information and details will follow within the next months.

  • Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) 2024
    2024-09-08 to 2024-09-13, Berlin, Germany

    Aims & scope

    The intention of the Europlanet Science Congress 2024 is to cover a broad area of science topics related to planetary science and planetary missions. The programme of the congress will contain oral and poster sessions, as well as workshops and panel discussions and provide with ample opportunities for interaction between the participants.

    The Scientific Organizing Committee of the EPSC2024 invites all planetary scientists to participate in the congress, submit contributions to the topical sessions and share their research with their colleagues.

    We are looking forward to meeting everyone at EPSC2024 in Berlin. EPSC2024 will be organized as a fully hybrid meeting and will allow virtual access to all oral and poster sessions.

    The ethos for EPSC2024 is to create a simple, flexible, and inclusive meeting that provides multiple opportunities for interaction, scientific discussion, and networking.


    About the Europlanet Science Congress

    The Europlanet Science Congress (formerly the European Planetary Science Congress) is the annual meeting place of the Europlanet Society. First held in Berlin in 2006 and regularly attracting more than 1,000 participants, the Europlanet Science Congress is the largest planetary science meeting in Europe. It covers the entire range of planetary sciences with an extensive mix of talks, workshops and poster sessions while providing a unique space for networking and exchange of experiences.

    Abstract submission deadline: 2024-05-15
    Early registration deadline: 2024-07-31

  • Social, Legal and Ethical Frontiers in Space Exploration
    2024-09-23 to 2024-09-25, Kiruna, Sweden

    A joint meeting of the European Astrobiology Institute and the Society for Social and Conceptual Issues in Astrobiology

    This meeting will bring scholars, students, politicians, journalists and other stakeholders together to discuss the ethical, political legal, societal and environmental aspects of space exploration.

    The meeting is co-organised by the European Astrobiology Institute and the Society for Social and Conceptual Issues in Astrobiology.

    The conference will take place at Malmfälten Adult Education Centre in Kiruna, Sweden. Kiruna is 300 km north of the arctic circle and home to the Swedish ESRANGE Space Center and Rocket Range. This promises to be a conference to remember, as it takes place during Lapland’s beautiful Indian Summer, which offers good prospectives for viewing the Northern Lights, and features tours of the Space Center and other local attractions along with an interesting and highly interdisciplinary program.

    Experts from every discipline interested in exploring the many complex social and ethical questions raised by space exploration and the search for life on other planets are invited to attend the first joint meeting of the two major groups devoted to this end. We welcome submissions addressing any of the many “broader questions” in astrobiology and space exploration such as:

    Commercial activity in space
    Human colonization of other worlds
    The true nature of “life”’
    Emerging issues in space law
    Ethical questions regarding the search for extraterrestrial life and intelligence
    Balancing diverse cultural perspectives in space research
    Space Mining and ownership of space “resources”
    First Contact protocols
    “Pollution” in the context of space
    Societal and religious implications of a possible discovery of extraterrestrial life
    Fictional portrayals of space


    Abstract submission deadline: 2024-06-01
    Registration deadline: 2024-06-30

  • 7th NoRCEL Conference: Reactive Oxygen Species
    2024-10-30 to 2024-11-01, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK

    IN 2024, NoRCEL’s spotlight will be focussing on reactive oxygen species (ROS) and other relevant, related topics. In recent years, research on ROS across several disciplines has advanced rapidly. The outcome being significant new results on their generation, interactions and decay on rocky and icy planetary (and other astronomical) bodies, as well as with pre-biotic chemistry and the emergence of life – in addition to their relationships with biology including (contentiously) primitive anaerobic life. It is timely to now draw these advances together, for the first time in a big-picture, cross-disciplinary themed ‘summit’, with the aim of synthesizing current knowledge and surveying related open questions. We can also look at the planning of future interdisciplinary researches on the complicated roles played by these energetic – and enigmatic – species in our dynamic Solar System.