Announcing the Biennial European Astrobiology Conference (BEACON)

Our friends at the European Astrobiology Institute have announced the first Biennial European Astrobiology Conference (BEACON)! The conference will take place on La Palma Island, in the Canaries, Spain, from 20 through 24 April 2020.

Registration, abstract submission, and accommodation booking are now open for this meeting. It will take place at La Palma & Teneguia Princess Hotel on La Palma Island. The scientific sessions are currently planned to cover the following themes:

  • Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems and Detection of Habitable Worlds
  • The Pathway to Complexity: From Simple Molecules to First Life
  • Planetary Environments and Habitability
  • Evolution and Traces of Early Life and Life under Extreme Condition
  • Biosignatures and the Detection of Life beyond Earth
  • Historical, Philosophical, Societal and Ethical Issues in Astrobiology
  • Tracing Life and Identifying Habitable Environments
  • Impacts and their Role in the Evolution of Planets, Moons and Life 
  • Protoplanetary disks and their physical and chemical processes
  • Mars Sample Return missions

The meeting will be open to all interested scientists and students from Europe and other regions.

La Palma offers a multitude of  relevant research infrastructures (telescopes) and locations (active volcanoes, recent lava fields, Mars-analog landscapes). During the conference excursion (Friday, 25 April) many of these will be visited. A field trip to other astrobiologically-interesting field sites on other islands will be organized after the conference as well as an optional after conference walk (Saturday, 26 April) along the Volcano Route (Ruta de los Volcanes) spanning several active volcanoes above 1600m altitude. Also engagement events for wider audiences will be held.

The venue offers 4-star  accommodation  at less than EUR 70 ($77 USD) per person per day for a single room. Also registration is free for students and societies of participating entities in the EAI. 

Furthermore: A satellite meeting of AbGradE (in cooperation with the Europlanet Early Career (EPEC) network) will be organized from 17-19 April 2010!

Further information about the meeting can be found here: www.europeanastrobiology.eu/BEACON2020