IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, the BEACON conference has been adjourned. Most likely dates are now 12-16 April 2021. We apologise for the inconvenience and hope to welcome you in La Palma in 2021 ! See the cancellation procedures at the BEACON website

Cancellation procedures:

1. Registration fees will be refunded as well as fees for excursions and dinners. ESF will inform all details in the beginning of next week.
2. For cancellation and rebooking of flights please contact the airline or travel agency you booked with. Many airlines allow rebooking of flights, so if you want to join BEACON 2021 this can be an option (do not make any re-bookings yet though until we confirmed the date!).
3. For those that have booked non-refundable flights and want to go to La Palma irrespective of the meeting having been cancelled (some people told me that they want to do so), I will organise a substitute programme with field trips (click o the link to se the  .docx and .pdf files) on a self-cost basis to geological, volcanological (and some historical and cultural) sites. Maybe we use the evenings for science talks if enough peeople are present. This all will be on a private basis and fully at participants’ own cost (and own risk!), though, and no refunds will be paid for travel, meals and accommodation.  If you are interested, drop a short line to Wolf Geppert (wgeppert@fysik.su.se) (this involves no commitment from your side yet).
4. The hotel has agreed to extend the cancellation deadline for the people who booked with the reservation code from 30 days until 14 days before the arrival day. So you will have time to decide if you want to cancel altogether or take opart in the alternative programme.w. However, some of you might have better conditions, please check at your reservation confirmation We, however, strongly advise you to cancel the booking as soon as possible if you want to do so. If you have a non-refundable booking we cannot refund you any costs since we advised people to use the code. You can cancel the following way:

1. Go to https://www.princess-hotels.com/en
2. Click ”Manage my reservation” on the bottom right (In the black field)
3. Fill in the booking reservation code (sent to you per e-mail) and the hotel name (La Palma Princess)
4. Press the “Cancel” button and confirm.

The Biennial European Astrobiology Conference (BEACON) will probably take place at the La Palma & Teneguia Princess Hotel on La Palma Island (Canary Islands, Spain) from 12-16 April 2021. During this meeting also the 3rd 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

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 7th
• Introductory talks by early-career scientists for people new to the field on April8th
• 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.