2025 – 2026
The EAI ACADEMY is an international educational program organised and broadcasted by the Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), CSIC-INTA, Madrid, with the support of the European Astrobiology Institute (EAI). It provides a framework to meet online with the international astrobiology community and to acquire interdisciplinary knowledge through a series of seminars given by experts in these fields. The Academy audience connects from more than 32 countries and all continents, with an average participation of 70 attendees per seminar. Past editions are accesible through the CAB youtube channel (link to 2021-2022, link to 2022-2023, link to 2023-2024, link to 2024-2025).
The EAI Academy program for the academic year 2025-2026 will start this October, 10/8/2025. The seminars are offered for free and are streamed online via zoom every two weeks on Wednesday from 3:00 to 4:00 PM CET (Madrid time). The talks will be given by world-renowned experts, who answer the questions raised by the public after their talk. All seminars will be recorded for future availability in the CAB youtube channel.
At the end of the academic year, CAB awards a certificate of participation to those who attend a minimum of 10 seminars. In order for us to keep track of the attendance, you will need to enter your name and affiliation in the seminar chat when you enter the room (Zoom).
LIST OF SPEAKERS AND TOPICS
Dr. Pedro Monarrez
Virginia Tech, USA
October 8, 2025
October 8, 2025
Animal Body Size Response to Ancient Hyperthermal Events
Ancient hyperthermal events in Earth’s history can be used to isolate the evolutionary consequences of climate change and other environmental factors from background geologic intervals. A key biological trait hypothesized to be sensitive to climate change and straightforward to quantify in fossil data is body size, as ectotherms modulate their physiological response to temperature and oxygen change in part through their body size. Here, we measure genus-level extinction and origination selectivity with respect to body size for six extant and ectothermic Linnean classes with robust fossil records (Rhynchonellata, Cephalopoda, Echinoidea, “bony fish”, Bivalvia, and Gastropoda) using occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database. We compare selectivity during background intervals with those during hyperthermal events and their associated recovery intervals spanning the Early Permian to the Recent using capture-mark-recapture models. Using the best-fitting model for each class, we find that background extinction preferentially affects genera with smaller body sizes, whereas hyperthermal events do not show a consistent association between extinction probability and body size. Conversely, genera originating during background intervals are typically larger than average, whereas genera originating during hyperthermal recovery intervals are typically smaller than survivors, except for bony fish, which exhibit preferential origination of larger genera.
Dr. Ken A. Dill
Stony Brook University, USA
November 5, 2025
November 5, 2025
The Origins of Life: A new look at an old problem
How did the first living cells come into being from the earth’s molecular soup about 4 billion years ago? Despite much speculation – maybe RNA molecules came first, or proteins, or chemical networks – there’s not yet a consensus origins story. We’re looking at this from a physics perspective around three problems. First, before addressing what molecules came first — the chicken and egg problem, we must address the more fundamental question: What was the driving force? What was the autocatalytic dynamics, i.e. the “flywheel” of evolution that could choose materials in the first place? Second, how did sequence-structure-function arise from random polymers? It’s a “needle-in-a-haystack” problem. Third, what was “fitness” before there was biology? Chemistry doesn’t have such a thing. We have developed theory and simulations, and recently some experiments, showing how short random proteins could bootstrap their way towards biology.
Dr. Lyle Whyte
McGill University, Macdonald Campus, 21,111 Lakeshore Rd,
Ste.-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC, H9X 3V9, Canada
November 19, 2025
November 19, 2025
Life at low temperatures and ocean worlds
Prof. Whyte will present research on active microbial ecosystems in unique polar environments and their relevance for guiding the search for extant life on Mars, Europa, and Enceladus. For example, the Canadian High Arctic features several anoxic, hypersaline cold springs including Lost Hammer Spring, which perennially discharges anoxic, subzero brines (−5°C; 24% salinity) through ~600 m of permafrost. Multi-genomics approaches utilizing metagenome, metatranscriptome, and single-amplified genome sequencing revealed a rare surface terrestrial habitat supporting a predominantly lithoautotrophic active microbial community driven in part by sulfide-oxidizing Gammaproteobacteria scavenging trace oxygen. Results from our recent research have detected active microbial ecosystems present in surface ice from the high Arctic Devon Ice Cap, and trace gas (H2, CO, CH4) metabolisms. Our global results demonstrate Mars and icy moon -relevant microbial metabolisms detected under anoxic, hypersaline, and sub-zero ambient conditions, providing evidence that similar extant microbial life could potentially survive in similar habitats within our solar system. This research also is providing guidance for planetary protection protocols especially in terms of human pathogenicity risk assessments for backward contamination via future Mars sample return missions.
Dr. Amy Williams
University of Florida, USA
December 3, 2025
December 3, 2025
Target Locations for the Search for Life on Mars
The exploration of Mars has taken us from ‘Follow the Water’ with the Spirit and Opportunity rovers, to ‘Follow the Carbon’ with the Curiosity rover. We now accept the challenge to ‘Follow the Life’ with the grand search for ancient life on Mars through the Perseverance rover mission and the Mars Sample Return program. This presentation will explore the foundational discoveries and ongoing exploration of Mars, the search for life beyond Earth, and the challenges and opportunities in life detection strategies.
Dr. Patrick Forterre
Pasteur Institute, France
December 17, 2025
December 17, 2025
Viruses and proteins in the origins of life
The origin of life remains a major mystery still today. However, the work of biochemists, molecular biologists and geneticists during the last decades have provided critical information about the nature of the early steps that led to modern organisms. In particular, the order of the emergence of the three life specific macromolecules, RNA, proteins and DNA, is quite clear. We are also now in the position to propose sound hypotheses about the nature of the last universal ancestors of all living cells (LUCA), the topology of the universal tree of life or else, the origin of viruses.
Dr. Eva Stueeken
University of St. Andrews, Great Britain
January 14, 2026
January 14, 2026
Assessing astrobiogeochemical controls on phosphorus supply and implications for habitability
Phosphorus is a critical element for all life as we know it, making it a key parameter for habitability and biogenesis. Some ocean worlds in the outer solar system appear to be phosphorus-enriched, whereas on the modern Earth phosphorus is often a limiting nutrient that restricts biospheric growth. This seminar reviews some of the processes that govern the supply of phosphorus to planetary surfaces, including core formation, meteorite impacts, weathering and secondary mineral formation. New data and models suggest that phosphorus concentrations in Earth’s oceans changed markedly over the past 4 billion years, perhaps dictating the pace of biological evolution. An underexplored aspect are spatial gradients and the redox state of phosphorus in different environments through time. Addressing these open questions may enable us to place tighter constraints on planetary habitability across the solar system and beyond.
Dr. Paul Zabel
DLR, Germany
January 28, 2026
January 28, 2026
ISRU Technology Developments for Regolith Beneficiation and Water Extraction on Moon and Mars
The Synergetic Material Utilization (SMU) research group focuses on combining Life Support Systems and In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) systems. The group works on a combination of laboratory-scale experimental setups in relevant environments and simulations to contribute to the development of ISRU technologies for Moon and Mars. The research foci are on regolith beneficiation and water extraction technologies on Moon and Mars. The first research area is regolith beneficiation, which includes the development of a laboratory scale model for a multi-stage beneficiation testbed. The testbed achieved a three-fold increase in the ilmenite weight concentration compared to the unprocessed input regolith. The goal is to further develop particle size sorting and magnetic mineral enrichment processes. Another activity is the utilization of Martian atmospheric gases for regolith beneficiation, transportation and collection. Here a comprehensive system analysis showed that there is great potential to utilize the gases of the Martian atmosphere for air classification of regolith. The second research area is water extraction and purification for in-situ propellant and consumables production. Here, the SMU group has led the EU-funded LUWEX project. Its objective is to extract, capture, and purify water from lunar icy regolith, reaching Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4/5. Along with validating this water process chain in a relevant lunar simulated environment, the project developed a novel method to produce an icy regolith simulant. As a foundation for LUWEX, an experimental study was performed on the solubility of regolith simulants in water. Additionally, several feasibility studies have been performed on different ISRU topics. One system analysis focused of an ISRU production plant to extract oxygen and metals. Furthermore, a second analysis on the oxygen production costs and logistics on the Moon surface was carried out, leading to the conclusion that the location with the best resources is the main driver in location selection. A third study was conducted on extracting minerals on Mars suitable for plant cultivation.
Dr. Charlot Vandevoorde
GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion
Research, Germany
February 11, 2026
February 11, 2026
Space Radiation: an invisible barrier to human exploration
As human space exploration moves beyond low Earth orbit toward sustained missions to the Moon and Mars, exposure to space radiation represents one of the principal constraints on mission duration, crew health, and operational capability. Outside Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere, astronauts are exposed to a complex radiation environment dominated by high-energy particles of galactic and solar origin. These exposures differ fundamentally from terrestrial radiation in both quality and dose levels, leading to chronic, cumulative biological effects that impact multiple organ systems.
This talk will introduce the space radiation environment relevant to human exploration, summarize current understanding of the associated health risks, and discuss the limitations of conventional protection strategies such as shielding and operational constraints. In this context, the need for novel, biologically informed countermeasures is emerging, capable of complementing physical protection by enhancing physiological resilience during long-duration missions. The presentation will conclude by outlining emerging research directions aimed at enabling safe and sustainable human exploration beyond low Earth orbit.
Dr. Isabelle Anna Zink
University of Vienna, Austria
March 4, 2026
March 4, 2026
Viruses and proteins in the origins of life
Rowan J. Whittle
BAS, United Kingdom
March 11, 2026
March 11, 2026
Interaction between the geological evolution of Earth and the evolution of life
Dr. Christophe Sotin
Département Sciences de la Terre et de l'Univers.
University of Nantes, France
March 25, 2026
March 25, 2026
Life at low temperatures and ocean worlds
Dr. Stephen Mojzsis
University of Bayreuth, Germany
April 8, 2026
April 8, 2026
Interaction between the geological evolution of Earth and the evolution of life
Dr. William W Crockett
MIT, USA
April 22, 2026
April 22, 2026
Life at low temperatures and ocean worlds / Interaction between the geological evolution of Earth and the evolution of life
Dr. Lloyd Peck
BAS, United Kingdom
May 6, 2026
May 6, 2026
Life at low temperatures and ocean worlds
Dr. Rita Severino
Centro de Astrobiología, Spain
May 20, 2026
May 20, 2026
Viruses and proteins in the origins of life
Dr. Ester Lazaro
Centro de Astrobiología, Spain
June 3, 2026
June 3, 2026
