ABOUT THE COURSE
One of the most fascinating questions arising from studies of our planet, and of the wider Universe, is the origin of life on Earth. There are two main hypotheses describing the source of the organic compounds that could have served as the basis of life: the formation of prebiotic molecules under the conditions assumed to have existed on the primitive Earth (endogenous hypothesis); and their formation in the Solar Nebula or in its parent molecular cloud and delivery to Earth via asteroids, comets and their meteoritic remains (exogenous hypothesis).
The course will be devoted to astrochemistry and the exogenous hypothesis of the origin of life. In 14 lectures from the world-leading experts, we will discuss the history of the early molecular universe starting from the Big Bang; environmental conditions and key physico-chemical processes in space; astronomical observations (from ground to space) of objects of astrochemical interest; chemical models describing astrophysical environments and their reaction networks; key laboratory techniques and approaches for studying astrochemical processes; chemistry in specific environments, such as the interstellar medium, protoplanetary disks, and atmospheres of (exo)planets; exogenous synthesis and delivery of biomolecule precursors; and, finally, evolution of these precursors on the early Earth.
The course is organized by a consortium of scientists from different universities and research organizations and is aimed at providing a broad overview of scientific issues, problems, achievements, and open questions in astrochemistry; and at helping senior undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as early career scientists to expand their interests and develop a firm understanding of this area, sufficient to choose an appropriate direction for their future career. The course is open to students and scientists from all over the world, but the organizers reserve the right to be selective in terms of access and to limit the total number of participants.
LECTURERS
Edwin Bergin, University of Michigan, USA
Dieter Braun, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany
Ludmila Carone, Space Research Institute, Austria
Paola Caselli, Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Germany
Robin Garrod, University of Virginia, USA
Wolf Geppert, Stockholm University, Sweden
Eric Herbst, University of Virginia, USA
Martin McCoustra, Heriot-Watt University, Scotland
Alessandro Morbidelli, Côte d’Azur Observatory, France
Hans Olofsson, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
Alexey Potapov, Friedrich Schiller University Jena and Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Germany
Barbara Ryden, The Ohio State University, USA
Alexander Tielens, University of Maryland, USA and Leiden University, The Netherlands
Catherine Walsh, University of Leeds, UK
COURSE PROGRAM
ORGANIZERS
REGISTRATION
To register, send an email containing your name and family name, status (bachelor, master, PhD student, postdoc, staff, professor), supervisors's name (if applicable), affiliation and address to alexey.potapov at uni-jena.de.
Registration deadline: March 26.