Astronomy, astrochemistry and the origin of life

The 17^th Heidelberg Summer School takes place August 22-26 in the "Mathematikon", more specifically in the Institute for Computer Science,  IWR.

Organization:

IMPRS for Astronomy and Cosmic Physics at the University of Heidelberg (IMPRS-HD):

Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA); Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics (MPIK); Center for Astronomy of Heidelberg University, ZAH (Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, ARI; Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, ITA;  Landessternwarte Koenigstuhl, LSW); and Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS).

Scientific organizing committee:   

Alexey Potapov (Jena Univ. / MPIA), Dmitry Semenov (MPIA)

Scope of the School:

The Origin of Life on Earth is one of the most fascinating questions arising from the studies of our planet, and of the wider Universe.

There are two main hypotheses describing the source of the organic compounds that could have served as the basis of abiogenesis: (1) the in situ synthesis of prebiotic molecules on the primitive Earth and (2) their formation in the Solar Nebula or in its parent molecular cloud, followed by their exogenous delivery onto Earth via asteroids, comets, and their smaller fragments.

The school will be devoted to the exogenous hypothesis leading to the origin of life. We will discuss how astronomy and theoretical and experimental astrochemistry act together to explore this hypothesis, and to go beyond our Solar System in the search for extraterrestrial life and other habitable planets.

Five distinguished invited lecturers, along with an assortment of local experts, will provide an introduction to the field with an emphasis on real-world applicatiions.

In addition to the formal lectures, there will be problem-solving sessions, career discussions, and a variety of social activities.