New Astrobiology Centre to be opened at Stockholm University

A new Astrobiology Centre will be started at Stockholm University this autumn. It will be a virtual Centre (with no separate administration) and comprise scientists engaged in physics, astronomy, geology, geochemistry and molecular biology. The centre will be carrying on the activities of the Astrobiology Graduate School at Stockholm Graduate School on a broader and larger scale. Although the training activities will continue, the scope of the Stockholm University Astrobiology Centre will encompass multidisciplinary science projects, outreach activities and co-operation with other astrobiology institutions. Four post-docs and 5 graduate students will be employed by the centre through funding from the Stockholm University Faculty of Sciences. Common interdisciplinary scientific projects of SU-ABC include:

* Siderophores as tool for dissolving, transport and reduction of crystalline material and properties of the organisms that produce them
* Serpentinisation on Earth and other objects in the solar system as a source for molecular hydrogen
* To find life at large distances – biomarkers
* Polyaromatic hydrocarbons in space
* Negative ions in the Universe
* Formation of complex molecules in the interstellar medium

The Stockholm University Astrobiology Centre will be officially launched on 2 September 2011. A programme of the opening day can be found here.