When searching for life beyond Earth, scientists are haunted by a single fear: announcing a discovery that isn’t really there. Yet, by exclusively focusing our scrutiny on avoiding these illusions, have we blinded ourselves to reality? This brings us to a critical, yet neglected, challenge in astrobiology: the risk of the false negative – in other words, concluding that life is absent when it may, in fact, be present. History has indeed taught us that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. The fundamental question now facing space exploration is no longer just how to find life, but rather: how do we ensure we haven’t already missed it? It is precisely this question that an ISSI Working Group, led by Inge Loes ten Kate, Lena Noack, and Emmanuelle Javaux, set out to address.
In 1995, ISSI was founded, and guess what? It was also the year 51 Pegasi b was discovered, making it the first exoplanet found orbiting a star just like our Sun.
Mark your calendars for June 19, 2025, because ISSI is bringing together some incredible speakers. We will have Michel Mayor, Doug Lin, and Carole Mundell sharing their expertise, along with Didier Queloz, Sara Seager, Jonathan Lunine, and Laura Kreidberg. And to top it all off, we have got Thomas Zurbuchen as the moderator and Willy Benz as our Master of Ceremonies. This is going to be an event you won’t want to miss!
So, come on down to the University of Bern (or watch the live stream) and join us for our event of the year!
Eligible research projects must involve the interdisciplinary analysis and evaluation of space mission data. They may also draw on complementary ground-based data and/or theoretical modelling where this adds scientific value.
This call is open to all scientists, regardless of nationality or institutional affiliation, who are actively involved in any of the following research fields:
1. Space Sciences: Astrobiology, Astrophysics and Cosmology, Fundamental Physics in Space, Magnetospheric and Space Plasma Physics, Planetary Sciences, Solar and Heliospheric Physics, and Solar-Terrestrial Sciences.
2. Earth Sciences using space data. This includes understanding and modelling Earth system processes, as well as climate change projections.
