Origin of Life Early-Career Network

Currently hiring 1-2 postdocs to work on origins of life theory/experiment, assembly theory, life detection, with me and @leecronin.bsky.social, positions are mostly based at ASU but also some time could be spent at U. Glasgow, Apply here: apply.interfolio.com/176391 Please help us spread the word!

Curious about how life began? OoLEN is a global community for early-career researchers in origins of life and prebiotic chemistry. 🧬🌍 Connect with others across disciplines, find opportunities, and grow together. Join: oolen.org/join Tell us in the replies—what do you work on? #OriginOfLife

IOoL 2026 - Interdisciplinary Origins of Life Early Career Meeting - Indication of Interest OoLEN (Origin of Life Early-career Network) is an international post-disciplinary network connecting early-career researchers exploring how life emerged on Earth and beyond. Since 2018, OoLEN has…

📣 IOoL 2026 is coming to Tokyo!
The next Interdisciplinary Origin of Life Meeting will be September 9-11, 2026 at ELSI in Japan!
Join early-career researchers from across disciplines to present work, exchange ideas, and build community.
👉 Indicate your interest below!
#OriginsOfLife #Astrobiology

🌊 Happy #WorldWetlandsDay! Shallow ponds and tidal pools may have been where life first began, mixing water and simple molecules to spark early chemistry. These ecosystems matter for biodiversity and for understanding our origins. 🧬

Resurrecting Ancient Enzymes in NASA's Search for Life Beyond Earth - NASA Science NASA-supported scientists have resurrected an enzyme first used by organisms on Earth 3.2-billion years ago and, in the process, have validated a chemical

Happy to share that a fantastic article about my latest research was just published on NASA’s website! Very grateful to have such a spotlight on my PhD research and recent Nature Communications paper.

Want a lightweight way to keep up with origins-of-life papers & news?

Check out Alexandre Champagne’s “Origin of Life Digest” (blog) + follow @alexchampagne.bsky.social

#OriginOfLife #Astrobiology

A great group of people!

OoL Digest — January 26

OoL digest is out! 🧬🪐 21 new papers — astrobiology & biosignatures, interstellar peptide formation, metabolically active protocells, Proterozoic ocean oxygen, and Europa's icy shell.

Want to get more involved with OoLEN?

Join a workgroup: Outreach, Virtual Meetings, or IT (Python interest helpful).
Email: oolearlycareer@gmail.com

#Community #OoLEN

FALCON2025 - Origin of Life Early-career Network The Astrobiology Graduates in Europe (AbGradE) and the Origin of Life Early Career Network (OoLEN) proudly present their first jointly organized meeting "FALCON - Frontiers in Astrobiology and…

Throwback to FALCON 2025 (OoLEN × AbGradE) in Reykjavík 🇮🇸

Huge thanks to all participants, poster presenters, speakers, and our OoLEN keynote speakers Sean Jordan & Silke Asche.

More:
www.oolen.org/news-and-eve...

#Astrobiology #OriginOfLife

Prototaxites fossils are structurally and chemically distinct from extinct and extant Fungi Prototaxites fossils are distinct from Fungi, suggesting that they represent an extinct lineage of eukaryotic life.

It was a joy to contribute to this paper led by @sandyheth.bsky.social, Corentin Loron and Laura Cooper. We show the Devonian fossil, Prototaxites, is not a fungus but is in fact an organism from an as yet unknown extinct eukaryotic lineage.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

@dcu-lsi.bsky.social

Save the date 🇯🇵✨

IOoL2026 — Interdisciplinary Origin of Life Meeting for Early Career Researchers
📍 Japan
🗓️ September 2026

More info soon! 🚀

#OriginOfLife #Astrobiology

Want a community of early-career folks thinking about how life begins? 🧬✨

OoLEN is for students + postdocs + early faculty focused on origins-of-life research.
We share: opportunities, events, resources, and member spotlights.

Join: oolen.org/join
#OriginOfLife #ECR

OoL digest — January 19

OoL digest is out! 🔭⭐️ 26 new papers — HWO & exoplanets, astrochemistry, RNA evolution, eukaryogenesis/deep biosphere, and Mars climate.

OoLEN Diversity and Inclusion Survey 2025 This survey is intended to be taken by anyone who considers themselves to be an early career researcher, working on topics related to OoL. It is a repeat of the OoLEN Diversity and Inclusion Survey…

Reminder: OoLEN DEI Survey 2025 🧬🌍

If you’re an early-career origins-of-life researcher, we’d really value your (anonymous) input on the DEI climate in our field.

Survey link: forms.gle/K7F6aM2prMgn...

#DEI #OriginOfLife

OoLEN update: our Executive Board has expanded from 5 → 7 members.

Welcome Selene Cannelli, Marina Fernández, and Anastasia Yanchilina! 🎉
And a huge thank-you to Loraine Schwander for her contributions over the past 2 years.

#OriginOfLife #Community

Going to #AbSciCon26? Working on AI/ML for astrobiology? New ways to investigate life's emergence? The intersection of philosophy and astrobiology? Consider submitting to one of the sessions I'm convening!

Consider submitting a #AbSciCon2026 abstract to our session on transition metals!

#abscicon26 #geobiology

14 Jan 2005: ESA’s Huygens probe landed on Titan 🪐 — still the only landing in the outer Solar System.

Titan remains a top “ocean world”–adjacent target: rich organics, active chemistry, and an incredible natural lab for thinking about prebiotic pathways.

#Titan #OriginOfLife #OceanWorlds

OoL digest — January 12

New OoL digest is out! 🌍🧬 32 new papers, ft. Europa’s seafloor activity, Enceladus exploration roadmaps, prebiotic nickel catalysis, multicellularity switches in yeast, and liquid water scenarios on ancient Mars.

#OriginOfLife #Astrobiology

If you work on the origins of life / prebiotic chemistry, consider joining OoLEN 🧬🌍

We’re an early-career community for connecting across disciplines, sharing opportunities, and building momentum together.

Join: oolen.org/join
(And feel free to reply with what you work on!)
#OriginOfLife

"Applying Biosignatures to Constrain the Fingerprint, Origins, Evolution, and Evolvability of Life"

Using integrated biosignatures to infer evolutionary processes on Earth & constrain evolvability elsewhere.
#Biosignatures #Astrobiology

"From Stardust to Stargazing—Drivers of Evolution from Chemistry to Biology"

Prebiotic → early Darwinian evolution • non-equilibrium systems • thermodynamics • self-assembly
#OriginOfLife #Evolution

“Assembly Theory Across Scales: From Molecules to Planetary Systems”

Theory • computation • lab • observations • mission data—across scales.

#AssemblyTheory #Complexity

“Exploring self-assembly and self-organization: from prebiotic molecules to the emergence of organic complexity & implications for Ocean Worlds”

Prebiotic transitions • biosignatures • ocean worlds • exoplanets

#OceanWorlds #OriginOfLife

AbSciCon 2026 The Astrobiology Science Conference (AbSciCon) brings the astrobiology community together every two years to share research, collaborate, and plan for the future.

#AbSciCon26 (Madison, WI • May 2026): OoLEN members are convening sessions—consider submitting!

Abstract deadline: Jan 14, 2026.
www.agu.org/abscicon

Thread 🧵👇

OoL digest — January 5

New OoL digest is out! 🪐 12 new papers, ft. the Viking missions, exoplanet habitability, and lava tubes on Mars.

#OriginOfLife #Astrobiology

OoL digest — December 29

New OoL digest is out! 9 new papers to wrap up the year. 💫

#OriginOfLife #Astrobiology

How molecules copy themselves with fewer errors – Sciworthy Researchers found that molecules can self-replicate with fewer errors by selecting similar ingredients.

How molecules copy themselves with fewer errors? And how is this related to the origins of life? Check our blog !
sciworthy.com/how-molecule...

Volume 15 Issue 6 | Interface Focus | The Royal Society Themed issues covering cross-disciplinary research at the interface between the physical life and social sciences.

Part II of the "Workshop on Information, Selection and Evolution" theme issue is now out in
@royalsocietypublishing.org!

Special shout-out to @carnegiescience.bsky.social artist Navid Marvi for producing the journal cover image—funneling between function landscapes.