Plenary mainscientific sessions are planned covering the following themes:
There will be also special sessions on the following subjects:
- Asteroids, Comets and Meteorites: Inheritance, Reprocessing, Synthesis and delivery of complex molecules
- Biochemical functions in compartmented microenvironments
- Chemistry on the early Earth, Mars, and other rocky bodies
- Coupling of compartment, metabolism and heritable information in evolutionary systems
- Complex chemistry in outer solar system bodies
- Complex organic molecules in the ISM: From Molecular Clouds to Protoplanetary Disks
- Early and extinct life on Earth
- Evolution of photosynthesis
- Evidence in astrobiology
- False positives in astrobiology
- Icy Moons
- Impacts and their Role in the Evolution of Planets, Moons and Life
- Legal issues in astrobiology
- Mars missions and the detection of minerals, organics and biosignatures
- Molecular Mechanisms of adaptation to Life to extreme conditions
- Organics and biosignature detection on icy moons
- Origins of metabolism and template replication: The path to an RNA/Peptide world
- Prebiotic (systems) chemistry: Synthesis of monomers and polymers in the lab
- Protoplanetary disks and their physical and chemical processes
- Stability and detection of biosignatures on Mars
- Tracing Life and Identifying Habitable Environments
- Venus
Programme
The scientific programme will consist of invited talks (35 + 10 minutes) and contributed talks (12 + 3 minutes) as will as poster sessions. There will be, amongst others, the following keynote speakers at BEACON 2025:
Frédéric Foucher
CNRS, FR
Kevin Heng
LMU Munich, DE
Nozair Khawaja
FUB & IRS-Uni Stuttgart, DE
Melissa McClure
Leiden University, NL
Ganna Portyankina
DLR, DE
Barabara Sherwood-Lollar
University of Toronto, CA
Sandra Siljeström
RISE, SE
Anne Grete Straume-Lindner
ESA
Giovanna Tinetti
UCL London, UK
In addition to the scientific programme, there will be a conference dinner at Perlan carousel restaurant. Also outreach events for the general public will be held.
The meeting venue, Harpa is centrally located in Reykjavík and equipped with state-of-the-art technology. Flights are operated to Leifur Eiriksson Airport at Keflavík from many cities in Europe and America and very cheap flight alternatives are available. There are very good bus connections from the airport to downtown Reykjavík. Harpa is also close to one of the major public bus stations.
Iceland offers a multitude of astrobiologically interesting locations (active volcanoes, geysers, solfataras, glaciers, hot springs, recent lava fields, Mars-analogue landscapes, etc). On 3 July 2025 we will offer several conference excursions to geological, historical and cultural sites.
There are plenty of hotels and holiday homes. We also offer hostel accommodation at cheaper prices.
Bursaries
A limited number of bursaries for students and early career scientists (up to 8 years from their first PhD. in a related field) from EAI institutions will be available. These bursaries will be given to participants submitting an abstract. Participants from EAI Institutions selected by the EAI for bursaries will be offered free registration, free accommodation in 4-6 bedded rooms in hostels and the conference dinner but have to pay for their travel and meals. But participants have to fund their travel on their own. There is no special application for the bursaries, just send in your abstract and tell us in the e-mail your justification for a bursary. Participants selected for the bursaries will be notified immediately after the application deadline (in good time before the registration deadline).
Satellite meeting of AbGradE and Oolen
There will be a satelite meeting of the Early Career Scientist organisations Astrobiology Graduates i Europe (AbGradE) and Europlanet Early Career Network (EPEC). from 26 to 29 June 2025. Please stay check the meeting website for details.
Venue and Access
Please check the Venue and Access page for details
Abstract Submission
Please check the Registration and Abstract submission page for details
Vulcanological situation
There is always a chance for some disruptions by eruptions in Iceland. The Reykjanes region has been very active during the last years. There has been some earthquake activity in the Bárðarbunga region on 14th January, prompting some volcanologists to predict an eruption there during the next years. While this is entirely possible one has to bear in mind that (a) the region is about 300 km from Reykjavík, (b) the lava from the eruption will flow northwards into an almost uninhabited area.
Disruptions in air traffic from an eventual eruption in Iceland cannot be ruled out, but one is much better prepared for such instances than before the Eyjafjallajökull.
We will follow all volcanological developments in Iceland very carefully. A good website to check is the one of the Icelandic Metorological Office (Veðurstofa), www.vedur.is.