European Astrobiology Institute Summer School: Impacts and their Role in the Evolution of Life

The course “Impacts and their Role in the Evolution of Life” will take place from 5 to 14 September 2023 in the picturesque city of Nördlingen which is situated inside the world-famous Ries crater in southern Germany. 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 will also have the possibility to display their own research results in one or two poster sessions. The European Astrobiology Institute and the Stockholm University Astrobiology Centre, the Ries Crater Museum and the University of Neu-Ulm will function as co-organisers of the course and 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:

Outreach work for a conference on “Impacts and their role in the evolution of life” in Nördlingen in autumn 2024

We also will have two one-day excursions, one around the Ries Crater and one to the Steinheim crater with its famous central uplift feature.

Participants will also have the possibility to display their own research results in two poster sessions.