Research program launch symposium
" Origins : from planets to life " is one of the Priority Research Programs and Equipment (PEPR) funded by the French government as part of the France 2030 plan. It is supported by 34 national organizations and universities, representing the entire research community concerned with the origins of planets and life, and is coordinated by the CNRS .
Understanding the origins of life, and discovering and characterizing other Earths are fundamental scientific objectives, in full expansion on the international scene and at the heart of the work of the French community. The effectiveness of this quest for origins is deeply dependent on technological advances initiated by researchers in the field.
The mission of this PEPR is to remove certain precisely identified technological barriers to enable decisive advances in five research areas of national excellence :
- detection and characterization of exoplanets by direct imaging ;
- analysis of space samples, with or without biological risks ;
- study of the Earth in its entirety as a habitable planet ;
- laboratory experimentation in exobiology and bio-analysis of samples from ancient Earth or Mars ;
- numerical modeling and data analysis.
Removing these obstacles will have numerous medium- and long-term repercussions on national technological know-how and, consequently, on the country's economy, health and environment, and will contribute to national competitiveness.
Research into the origin of life and the existence of Earth-like planets is of great interest to society. This PEPR also supports an ambitious program of scientific mediation, as well as studies in the humanities and social sciences on taking into account cultural representations of life, in order to better understand the place of humans in the universe and their powers over living things.
Note : most of the presentations will be in English.