Impacts and their Role in the Evolution of Life

Summer course: Impacts and their Role in the Evolution of Life.

General information

The course "Impacts and their Role in the Evolution of Life" will take place from 16 to 25 August 2013 at Kuressaare and the Kaali impact crater site on the island of Saaremaa, Estonia. It aims to give students a thorough introduction in the role of meteorite and comets impacts in the formation of Earth, its atmosphere and the evolution of life. The course consists of lectures, pratical exercises and student-led discussions. Participants wil also have the possibility to display their own research results in two poster sessions. The following subjects will be covered by the lectures:

• Roles of impacts in the formation of habitable planets
• Physical and chemical properties of comets and meteorites
• Detection and investigation of impact craters by geological methods and remote sensing from space
• Ecological consequences of impacts and the role of impacts in mass extinctions
• Transfer of life through meteorite impacts
• Threat of life on our planet by near-Earth asteroids and comets

The lecture programme will be complemented by practical exercises concerning:

• Electromagnetic mapping of impact sites
• Analysis of pollen indicators of the Kaali impact event.
• Microscopy of impactites
• Georadar profiling at Kaali

Participants will also have the possibility to display their own research results in two poster sessions. Furthermore, excursions to geologically interesting sites like the Panga cliffs.

Eligible participants

The event is aimed for graduate (masters and Ph. D.) students and early career scientists (up to 5 years after their first Ph. D. in a related field) in fields relevant to astrochemistry and astrobiology. The event is open to applicants from all nationalities. Detailed information about the summer school and the application procedure (deadline 30 April 2013) can be found here. Successful applicants accepted by the organisers will receive meals and excursions, but will have to organise financial means for their travel to and from Kuressaare and their lodging themselves. We will offer both youth hostel and hotel accommodation at very good prices to students. Course credit awards (ECTS points) for undergraduate and Ph. D. students will be applied for by the course organisers. Please see the Application page for details about the application.

Meeting venue

Lectures and poster sessions will take place in the Georg Ots Spa Hotel in Kuressaare, Estonia. The venue is only a 5 min taxi ride from the Roomassaare Airport and abn 800m walk from Kuressaare bus station. Accommodation for participants will be either at this hotel or at the Ruubi Kodu hostel (which is very close to the bus station). Exercises will take place at the Kaali crater site, with the Kaali school functioning as a field site. Please see the Venue & Access page for details.

Confirmed lecturers Alexis Brandeker, Stockholm University Astrobiology Centre, Sweden Charles Cockell, University of Edinburgh, UK Richard Court, Imperial College, London, UK Henning Haack, Natural History Museum of Denmark Kalle Kirsimäe, University of Tartu, Estonia Christian Köberl, University of Vienna, Austria Tomas Kohout, University of Helsinki, Finland Karen Meech, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, USA Jüri Plado, University of Tartu, Estonia Vivi Vajda, Lund University, Sweden Siim Veski, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia Wolf Geppert, Stockholm University Astrobiology Centre, Sweden

Organisers

The event will be organised by the Nordic Network of Astrobiology. Dr. Wolf Geppert from Stockholm University will serve as the main contact person. The organisers are looking forward to welcoming you at the course. See you in Kuressaare in June 2013 !

Application

Deadline for registration, accommodation booking is the 30 April 2013.Please see the Application page for details about the application.