Astrobiologists shape pan-European institute

A group of astrobiologists from across Europe is developing a proposal to create a European Astrobiology Institute, which would mirror the NASA Astrobiology Institute in the United States.

Preliminary discussions were held at a meeting of the European Science Foundation in Strasbourg on 8 September, where a steering committee was established. A second meeting will take place in late autumn, with a view to launching the EAI in January 2019.

Nigel Mason, a physicist at the Open University in the UK, is one of the coordinators of the project. He said that the EAI’s team would continue meeting in Strasbourg, but that the institute would primarily be virtual.