nai

2015 Santander Summer School: The Origin of Life: From Monomers to Cells

The 2015 International Summer School in Astrobiology was held at the summer campus of the Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo (UIMP), Palacio de la Magdalena, Santander, Spain on June 29 – July 3, 2015.

The theme was The Origin of Life: From Monomers to Cells. The school provided an interdisciplinary examination of the chemical, physical and geological processes that are required to develop cellular life, and discussed the different environmental settings that would support these processes. Topics covered included an introductory overview of origin of life research and future directions, planetary environments for life’s origin, abiological synthesis of small molecules relevant to life, the synthesis of biopolymers, the RNA world, and the development of protocells and the first cells.

School Directors

Dr. Javier Gómez-Elvira (Centro de Astrobiología)
Prof. Victoria Meadows (University of Washington)

Confirmed Lecturers:

Dr. George Cody (Carnegie Institution of Washington)
Dr. Pierre-Alain Monnard (University of Southern Denmark)
Dr. Juli Peretó (Universitat de València)
Prof. John Baross (University of Washington)
Additional lecturers are being confirmed

Summer School Scholars

Click here to view the list of Summer School Scholars

Sponsoring Organizations

NAI – NASA Astrobiology Institute
CAB – Spanish Centro de Astrobiología
ESA – European Space Agency
UIMP – Universidad Internacional Menendez Pelayo