Events & Courses

"Biosignatures and the Search For Life on Mars", aims to cover the subject of the search for life in different environments, both on early Earth, below Earth's surface and on Mars.

It will bring together students and researchers from a multitude of different fields. Field studies on the colonisation of lava fields and Mars analogue landscapes will complement the lectures.

The summer school will be organised by Wolf D. Geppert and David Cullen (Cranfield University, UK) and in co-operation with the University of Akureyri and the other scientists involved in the Nordic Network of Astrobiology, the European Union COST Action "Origins and Evolution of Life on Earth and in the Universe" and the Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership "European Astrobiology Campus". 

Programme

• Lectures by internationally leading scientists covering a broad range of subjects on biosignatures with the focus on detection of life on Mars
• Investigation of colonisation of fresh lava fields and Mars analogue landscapes with in situ life detection techniques 
• Excursions to geologically and astrobiologically interesting sites:
  • Kerlingarfjöll hot spring area
  • Barðabunga lava field
  • Námaskarð geothermal area
  • Krafla volcanic area
  • the Mars analogue landscapes at Askja
  • the Myvatn area with the Skútustaðir pseudocraters and the Hverfjall cinder cone
• Poster sessions for students and early career scientists
• Participant-led discussions

Deadline for applications

31 March 2016

Cost

There are no tuition fees charged for the course. Instead participants will be charged a package rate to cover meals and accommodation. This will be about EUR 1900. Find out what that includes.

Bursaries are available for around 20 European Ph. D. students and early career scientists (up to 8 years after their first Ph. D.).

Selected participants located in countries taking part in the the EU COST Action  "Origins and Evolution of Life on Earth and in the Universe" (this covers most European Countries) will get a refund of around EUR 1100. See the list of countries.

There are earmarked funds for the universities involved in the European Astrobiology Campus:

• University of Porto
• University of Bordeaux
• Open University
• University of Utrecht
• University of Tartu
• Tallinn University of Technology
• University of Iceland
• Vilnius University
• University of Turku
• and Stockholm University.

*Unfortunately, there are no funds available for participants from other countries. They can also apply, but will have to find the financial means for attending on their own. If you fall into that category and want to apply for alternative funding from other sources, we strongly recommend you to do so well before the application deadline. It might be too late to ask for funds after the decision of the evaluation committee.

Further information

For more information visit the Nordic Astrobiology website.