A new Interdisciplinary Centre for Astrobiology (ICA), being launched at the
Open University (OU), is set to enhance the OU’s position as a leading
national and international arena for OU and other scientists to collaborate
on research into where life is most capable of developing elsewhere in the
Universe, and on how to find it.

Astrobiology is a very broad, rapidly growing field of scientific research
dedicated to understanding the conditions necessary for the development of
life and how it might be found beyond the Earth. It is an area where OU
researchers are at the forefront.

The new centre will combine scientific expertise from the OU’s Planetary and
Space Sciences Research Institute (PSSRI), the OU’s Department of Physics
and Astronomy, and other departments.

OU Professor of Astronomy Barrie Jones, chair of the ICA steering group,
said: “We now have the technical ability to determine if there is life on
Mars and elsewhere in the Solar System. Take Europa, Jupiter’s largest moon.
It probably has an ocean covered by ice. Once there is liquid water there
is the possibility of life.

“New planets are constantly being discovered. Scientists have recently
mapped more than 90 planetary systems with more than 100 planets. Within a
few years we will be able to see if planets in other systems were or are
inhabited.”

The Interdisciplinary Centre for Astrobiology will:
o Study the formation of planets and investigate how the basic organic
materials needed to form life are produced in the Universe.
o Investigate the origin and evolution of life on Earth, including the study
of extreme environments and the habitats of extremophiles i.e. life forms
that survive in extreme environments.
o Explore through space missions, new telescopes, and computer modelling,
potential life- sustaining habitats elsewhere in the Solar System and in
planetary systems that exist outside our own.

Much of the work in the OU’s Planetary Science and Space Research Institute
and a significant proportion of the research in the OU Department of Physics
and Astronomy are already in astrobiology.

The Interdisciplinary Centre for Astrobiology will promote interaction
between these scientists and with people external to the OU. Such
interaction will lead to the development of new projects.

Editor’s Notes.

The Interdisciplinary Centre for Astrobiology launch will take place at the
Open University, Milton Keynes campus, at 1.30pm on Monday February 17th.

Two eminent scientists will present the latest research in astrobiology:
“The Microbiology of Impact Craters” by Dr Charles Cockell (British
Antarctic Survey), and “Self-organization, Emergence, Astrobiology and All
That” by Professor Juan Perez-Mercader (Centro de Astrobiologia, Spain).

There will be an opportunity to tour the laboratory facilities. Throughout
the meeting there will be a display of posters on astrobiology research and
teaching at the OU.