The Biennial European Astrobiology Conference (BEACON) will take place at the La Palma & Teneguia Princess Hotel on La Palma Island (Canary Islands, Spain) from 20-24 April 2020. During this meeting also the 2nd General Assembly of the EAI will take place. Scientific sessions are planned covering the following themes:

• Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems and Detection of Habitable Worlds
• The Pathway to Complexity: From Simple Molecules to First Life
• Planetary Environments and Habitability
• Evolution and Traces of Early Life and Life under Extreme Condition
• Biosignatures and the Detection of Life beyond Earth
• Historical, Philosophical, Societal and Ethical Issues in Astrobiology

• Tracing Life and Identifying Habitable Environments

• Impacts and their Role in the Evolution of Planets, Moons and Life 

• Protoplanetary disks and their physical and chemical processes

The meeting will be open to all interested scientists and students from Europe and beyond. There will be, amongst others,  the following keynote speakers at the event:

Daniela Billi, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy

Janice Bishop, SETI, USA

Bertram Bitsch, MPIA Heidelberg, Germany

Joanna Drazkowska, LMU Munich, Germany

Michael Gillon, University of Liège, Belgium

Keyron Hickman-Lewis, CNRS, France

Lisa Kaltenegger, Cornell University, USA 

Nancy Kiang, NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre, USA

Silvano Onofri, University of Tuscia, Italy

Ana-Catalina Plesa, German Aerospace Center, Germany

Sarah Rugheimer, Oxford University, UK 

Eörs Szathmary, Eötvös Lorand University, Hungary

La Palma offers a multitude of  relevant research infrastructures (telescopes) and locations (active volcanoes, recent lava fields, Mars-analogue landscapes,  etc. During the conference excursion (Friday 24th April) many of these will be visited. A field trip to other astrobiologically interesting field sites on other islands will be organised after the conference as well as an optional after conference walk (Saturday 25 April) along the Volcano route (Ruta de los Volcanes) spanning several active volcanoes above 1600m altitude will be offered. Also outreach events for the general public will be held.

The venue offers 4-star  accommodation  at very good prices (e.g. less than EUR 70,-  per person and day for full board in single room). Also registration is free for students and societies of participating entities in the EAI and cheap for those from other institutions.

Satellite meeting of AbgradE and EPEC

There will be a satelite meeting of the Early Career Scientist organisations Astrobiology Graduates i Europe (AbGradE) and Europlanet Early Career Network (EPEC).The meeting will consist of: 

• An icebreaker get-together on April 16th
• Introductory talks by early-career scientists for people new to the field on April17th
• An introductory talk about life in lava caves and an excursion to thenewly opened "Cueva de las Palomas" lava cave
• Two days of scientific programme with plenty of room for talks by early career scientists  

For further information including registation and abstract submission please check the website of the event. There will be bursaries for students and early career scientists to attend the event.