PhD summer school: Dust to DNA

Copenhagen 17-21 august 2026

A one-week course, aimed at PhD students, that covers the journey from interstellar dust to habitable planets and the conditions for the origins and evolution of life.

The lectures, including hands-on sessions, are taught by an international team of experts and have an interdisciplinary focus. We approach planet formation, exoplanet systems and the potential for life to emerge, using perspectives from astronomy, cosmochemistry, geology, and biology.

Already confirmed teachers

Hannah Diamond-Lowe (Space Telescope Science Institute, USA)
Jens Hoeijmakers (Lund University, Sweden)
Martina Preiner (MPI-Marburg, Germany)
Ebbe Sloth Andersen (Aarhus University)
James Connelly (Globe - University of Copenhagen)
Jens Frydenvang (Globe - University of Copenhagen)
Anders Johansen (Globe - University of Copenhagen)
Elishevah van Kooten (Globe - University of Copenhagen)
Michiel Lambrechts (Globe - University of Copenhagen)
Emil Laust Kristoffersen (iNANO - Aarhus University)
Richard Löffler (Globe - University of Copenhagen)
Martin Schiller (Globe - University of Copenhagen)
Haiyang Wang (Globe - University of Copenhagen)

Location and travel

Meeting location: Top floor of the Maersk Tower (google maps)
Airport: Copenhagen airport (IATA:CPH)
Public transportation: guide
Hotels: please arrange your own accommodation well in advance as the meeting falls in the busy tourist season
August weather: around 20 degrees and be prepared for rain

Access instructions to get to the meeting venue at Mærsk Tower (Blegdamsvej 3B, 2200 København N):

• Enter at the Main Entrance (map)
• The meeting room is on the 15th floor in building 7 (the main tower)
• Once inside the building, press the 15th floor button before entering the elevator
• The meeting is in the Faculty Lounge (Room 7.15.107A)

Registration

We welcome all PhD students in the fields of astronomy, cosmochemistry, geology, astrobiology and other fields related to planetary sciences. Postdocs are also welcome to apply.

The registration deadline is 31/05/2026.
There is no registration fee for the course.

To register: please email michiel.lambrechts@sund.ku.dk with your name and host institute.

For travel and accommodation, some students may be eligible for financial support via the COST action The birth of solar systems (PLANETS) through a Young Researcher and Innovator Conference grant (if interested, please let me know in the email). Deadline has passed.

Organisation

Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions you may have:
Elishevah van Kooten (course organiser) - elishevah.vankooten@sund.ku.dk
Michiel Lambrechts (course co-organiser) - michiel.lambrechts@sund.ku.dk
Emil Laust Kristoffersen (course co-organiser) - emillk@inano.au.dk
Anders Johansen - anders.johansen@sund.ku.dk
Martin Schiller - schiller@sund.ku.dk
Richard Löffler - richard.loffler@sund.ku.dk
Adrien Houge - adrien.houge@sund.ku.dk
Isak Perotti- ipe@sund.ku.dk

Program

This course corresponds to approximately 4 ects - but you can set the ects individually with your respective PhD school.

Monday 17/8 – Formation and the evolution of the first solids in protoplanetary disks
with Michiel Lambrechts, Anders Johansen and Haiyang Wang

09:00-09:30 Michiel Lambrechts – Intro to school, practicalities and setting up work groups
09:30-10:30 Michiel Lambrechts – Protoplanetary discs: from dust to pebbles
10:30-11:00 Coffee break with snacks
11:00-12:00 Anders Johansen – Planet formation
12:00-13:00 Lunch at Maersk Tower
13:00-14:00 Anders Johansen – Planetary differentiation and early atmospheres
14:00-14:30 Coffee break
14:30-15:30 Haiyang Wang – Planetary composition
15:30-18:00 Mingle and student poster session
18:00 End of day

Tuesday 18/8 – Exoplanets
with Jens Hoeijmakers and Hannah Diamond-Lowe

09:00-10:30 Jens Hoeijmakers – Exoplanet detection methods
10:30-11:00 Coffee break with snacks
11:00-12:00 Jens Hoeijmakers – Exoplanet characterization
12:00-13:00 Lunch at Maersk Tower
13:00-14:00 Hannah Diamond-Lowe – The exoplanet sample
14:00-14:30 Coffee break
14:30-15:30 Hannah Diamond-Lowe – Exoplanets: looking ahead
15:30-16:00 Coffee break
16:00-16:30 ?
16:30 End of day

Wednesday 19/8 – Cosmochemistry: insights from extra-terrestrial samples
with Martin Schiller, Jens Frydenvang and James Connelly

09:30-10:30 Martin Schiller – The formation of our Solar System: from meteorites and missions
10:30-11:00 Coffee break with snacks
11:00-12:00 Martin Schiller
12:00-14:00 Lunch (smørrebrød at StarPlan canteen)
14:00-15:00 Jens Frydenvang (StarPlan canteen)
15:00-16:30 Tour of Globe laboratory facilities with James Connelly
18:00 Boat trip

Thursday 20/8 – Astrobiology
with Elishevah van Kooten, Martina Preiner and Emil Laust Kristoffersen

09:30-10:30 Elishevah van Kooten – Astrobiology: prebiotic chemistry from cloud to planets
10:30-11:00 Coffee break with snacks
11:00-12:00 Martina Preiner
12:00-13:00 Lunch at Maersk Tower
13:00-14:00 Martina Preiner
14:00-14:30 Coffee break
14:30-15:30 Emil Laust Kristoffersen – Origins of Darwinian evolution
15:30-16:00 Coffee break
16:00-17:30 Emil Laust Kristoffersen – Origins of Darwinian evolution
17:30 End of day
18:00 Social activity?

Friday 21/8 – Evolution of life
with Emil Laust Kristoffersen and Ebbe S. Andersen

09:00-10:30 Emil Laust Kristoffersen – Origins of Darwinian evolution
10:30-11:00 Coffee break with snacks
11:00-12:00 Ebbe S. Andersen
12:00-13:00 Pizza
14:00 End of day

Learning objectives

1. Knowledge

• The major goal of this course is that, by the end of the course, students should be able to comfortably describe, in general terms, our current understanding on the evolution from cosmic dust to planets, as well as the basic conditions needed for life to emerge on Earth-like planets
• Explain in words the following key concepts of planet formation: the interstellar medium, star formation, the origin of planetary discs, pebble drift, planetesimal formation, pebble accretion, modern observatories (ALMA, JWST)
• Explain in words the following key concepts of cosmochemistry and planetary composition: isotopic differences between meteorites, dating of meteorites, planetary differentiation, oxygen fugacity, D/H in the Solar System
• Explain in words the following key concepts of exoplanet studies: exoplanet detection methods, the current exoplanet sample, exoplanet characterization, the habitable zone
• Explain in words the following key concepts of astrobiology: LUCA, prebiotic chemistry (Urrey-Miller), membranes, RNA-world, hydrothermal systems, biosignatures
• The basic workings of a modern (cosmochemistry) lab environment

2. Skills

• Communicate your research within an interdisciplinary context
• Collaborate in small interdisciplinary work groups
• Network in an interdisciplinary environment
• Perform and reproduce short theory calculations related to key concepts
• Recognize meteorites and go towards categorizing them

3. Competences

• By the course's end, students are expected to be able to discuss and evaluate the differences between competing leading models within planet formation and evolution, the study of exoplanets, and origin of life studies
• Effectively find and access the scientific literature for further in-depth study
• Formulate interdisciplinary research questions
• Discuss and elaborate on different definitions of life

Registered Participants

(last update 14/08)