Please join the NAI in welcoming three new International Partners—The UK Centre for Astrobiology, the Sociedad Mexicana de Astrobiología (SOMA) and the Helmholtz Alliance.

The UK Centre for Astrobiology based at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland is chaired by Charles Cockell. Its mission is to advance our understanding of molecules and life in extreme environments on the Earth and beyond. It does this with a combination of theoretical, laboratory, field and mission approaches. “We apply this knowledge to improving the quality of life on Earth and developing space exploration as two mutually enhancing objectives.”

The Sociedad Mexicana de Astrobiología (SOMA) chaired by Antigona Segura and Sandra Ramirez, is headquartered at the Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares (Institute of Nuclear Sciences – ICN) at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) in Mexico City. SOMA is a non-profit, self-sustained organization consisting of a multidisciplinary group of academics and students interested in promoting the knowledge and progress of Astrobiology in Mexico.

The Helmholtz Alliance “Planetary Evolution and Life” is based in Berlin, Germany and chaired by Tilman Spohn. The Alliance was established in 2008 to study the interactions between life and the evolution of terrestrial planets. “Can life develop on other planets? What conditions exist on other celestial bodies and in distant solar systems that might make this possible? How does a planet’s geological development affect the evolution of life, and vice versa?” These are the types of questions the scientists in the Helmholtz Alliance “Planetary Evolution and Life” are hoping to answer.

These three new partners join ten continuing partnerships connecting astrobiologists around the globe.