News

Reflections on the 2024 Annual Science Day by the members of the Organising committee

26 March 2024

On Friday 15th March, researchers from across nine university departments gathered at King’s College for the LCLU’s Annual Science Day. Over half the attendees were students, and represented fields ranging from theoretical physics and astronomy to philosophy and divinity, and everything in between.The event celebrated the...

News coverage on new paper by Paul Rimmer and Oliver Shorttle: "Graphite Likely Enabled Creation Of Earth’s First Prebiotic Molecules"

25 March 2024

Image: © Zbynek Burival / Mineralexpert.org Graphite —- better known as ordinary pencil lead —- likely triggered the onset of the first prebiotic molecules here on earth. But there was nothing simple about it. The creation of enough graphite to push along the needed chemical complexity to vector towards life was arguably...

Credit Dr Jonny Itcovitz (IOA, University of Cambridge)

LCLU funded paper on the origins of life has just been published in nature astronomy

19 February 2024

Cosmic dust fertilization of glacial prebiotic chemistry on early Earth Craig R. Walton , Jessica K. Rigley , Alexander Lipp , Robert Law , Martin D. Suttle , Maria Schönbächler , Mark Wyatt & Oliver Shorttle Image Credit: Dr Jonny Itcovitz (IOA, University of Cambridge) Abstract Earth’s surface is deficient in...

Congratulations to the recipient's of the Joint Collaborations Award 2023-2024

29 January 2024

The Joint Collaborative Programme is aimed at enabling collaboration between research groups within the University of Cambridge and partner institutes on origins of life research. We are happy to announce that this year we awarded funding for seven more projects: A theoretical underpinning of chiral selectivity on magnetic...

The Institute of Astronomy and Queens' College, at the University of Cambridge, are seeking to appoint a University Assistant Professor

18 January 2024

The Institute of Astronomy and Queens' College, at the University of Cambridge, are seeking to appoint a University Assistant Professor. The successful applicant will lead research in the area of planetary and exoplanet science, support teaching of the MPhil in "Planetary Science and Life in the Universe" and deliver small...

The Leverhulme Centre for Life in the Universe Visitor Programme- Open Call

16 October 2023

The LCLU is pleased to offer financial support to Centre members wishing to host visitors on topics relevant to the Centre. The visitor programme offers financial support of up to £2,000 per visitor to cover travel and accommodation costs for visits ranging from 1-2 weeks. Visitors are expected to interact with members of...

Press release: Methane and carbon dioxide found in atmosphere of habitable-zone exoplanet

9 October 2023

An international team of astronomers led by the University of Cambridge has used data from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope to discover methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of K2-18 b, an exoplanet in the ‘Goldilocks zone’. This is the first time that carbon-based molecules have been discovered in the...

Conference Announcement: Exoplanets 5, 16-21 June 2024 Leiden, the Netherlands

6 October 2023

You are cordially invited for the Exoplanets 5 conference in Leiden, The Netherlands, 16-21 June 2024. The Exoplanets Conference Series (Davos 2016; Cambridge 2018, Heidelberg 2020, Las Vegas 2022) has developed into one of the most important and largest meetings in the field, with 750 participants expected in Leiden. The...

Book launch for LCLU Member Andrew Davison's new book - Astrobiology and Christian Doctrine - Exploring the Implications of Life in the Universe

28 September 2023

Join author and LCLU Member, Andrew Davison for the launch of his latest book 'Astrobiology and Christian Doctrine' Andrew Davison is the Starbridge Associate Professor in Theology and Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge. Before he moved into theology, he was a scientist (a chemist, then a biochemist), going on...

How to search for life beyond Earth by Oliver Morton

25 September 2023

A recent article by Oliver Morton in The Economist on "How to search for life beyond Earth"

Reflections on the 2024 Annual Science Day by the members of the Organising committee

News coverage on new paper by Paul Rimmer and Oliver Shorttle: "Graphite Likely Enabled Creation Of Earth’s First Prebiotic Molecules"

LCLU funded paper on the origins of life has just been published in nature astronomy

Congratulations to the recipient's of the Joint Collaborations Award 2023-2024

The Institute of Astronomy and Queens' College, at the University of Cambridge, are seeking to appoint a University Assistant Professor

The Leverhulme Centre for Life in the Universe Visitor Programme- Open Call

Press release: Methane and carbon dioxide found in atmosphere of habitable-zone exoplanet

Conference Announcement: Exoplanets 5, 16-21 June 2024 Leiden, the Netherlands

Book launch for LCLU Member Andrew Davison's new book - Astrobiology and Christian Doctrine - Exploring the Implications of Life in the Universe

How to search for life beyond Earth by Oliver Morton

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