About Us

Understanding the origin of life (OoL) is among the greatest unsolved mysteries and represents an exciting frontier for science in the 21st century. The research on OoL is based on a variety of different, often dividing hypotheses and is only slowly transforming into a united field. The Origin of Life Early-career Network (OoLEN) supports and accelerates this process by bringing together early-career scientists from very different disciplines and backgrounds.

IOoL2018, the first interdisciplinary meeting for early career researchers in Düsseldorf (Germany) aimed to better connect researchers in the field and resulted in the publication of a perspective on the future of origin of life research that reflects our collective experience and strongly argues for building interdisciplinary bridges in OoL research. The second edition, the IOoL2020, was hosted in Glasgow (UK) but took place virtually. It became clear how crucial it is for early career scientists to have a space to connect and share ideas, thoughts and experiences. This led to the creation of the network in the fall of 2020 by Silke Asche, Cole Mathis, Martina Preiner and Joana C. Xavier.

By collaborating on publications, organizing public seminars on YouTube and talking to the media, OoLEN members improve and directly contribute to the scientific discourse and work to brighten the future of this interdisciplinary field.

• Executive Board and Workgroups

• Partner Organizations