Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life (COPL) at ETH Zurich

COPL 101 Lunch Seminar with Prof. Dr. Shinichi Sunagawa,
ETH Zurich, @eth-dbiol.bsky.social

"A genomic view of Earth’s microbial diversity"

Friday, 12 December 2025, 12:30pm, HIT F 23.2, ETH Hönggerberg

copl.ethz.ch/events/detai...

Exploring the Origins of Life: A Holistic Perspective At the recent COPL Colloquium, John Sutherland presented a compelling vision for unraveling one of science’s most profound mysteries: the origin of life. His talk emphasized that understanding life’s ...

What if the origins of life weren’t a single pathway, but a whole network of chemistry + biology speaking to each other from the very beginning?
Our latest post from John Sutherland’s talk explores this integrative view.

🔗 copl.ethz.ch/news/COPL-ne...

Three research projects selected for financial support The Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life is pleased to announce the selection of three new research projects for financial support in 2025. These projects span topics from the deep origins of life...

COPL supports three new research projects, each exploring explore life’s origins – from multiple ancestry hypotheses to prebiotic energy cycles and ocean-world habitability.

copl.ethz.ch/news/COPL-ne...

@tanjastadler.bsky.social @bsse.ethz.ch @eth-eaps.bsky.social

Welcoming the 2025 NOMIS–ETH Fellows In early October, the Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life at ETH Zurich welcomed the new NOMIS–ETH fellows, Dr. Thomas Drant and Dr. Antonin Affholder, who presented their ongoing research projec...

We welcomed two new NOMIS–ETH Fellows this month!

☀️ Thomas Drant – recreating early Earth’s photochemistry to study how life began. @eth-eaps.bsky.social
🌍 @aaffholder.bsky.social – modelling planetary oxygenation and the emergence of habitable worlds. @usyseth.bsky.social

shorturl.at/RgmNo

COPL 101 Lunch Seminar with Dr. Rhonda Morgan,
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA/Caltech

"Revolutionizing Design: Optimizing HWO Architecture for Biosignature Detection from NUV to NIR Wavelengths"

Friday, 10 October 2025, 12:30pm, NO D 45, ETH Zentrum

copl.ethz.ch/events/detai...

Thirty years ago, Swiss physicist Didier Queloz discovered the first planet outside our solar system, revolutionising astrophysics. In 2019, he received the Nobel Prize for his discovery. But he still hasn’t had enough. Why? Find out in the video. 👇

Exoplanets are not water worlds There is much less water on the surfaces of distant planets outside our solar system than previously thought. These exoplanets do not have thick layers of water, as was often speculated. That’s the co...

Are distant exoplanets really ocean worlds? 🌍✨
New ETH Zurich research shows they’re much drier than believed — with only limited water on their surfaces. This changes how we search for habitable planets and suggests Earth may not be so unique after all.

Read more:

Eierförmige Steinchen werfen neues Licht auf Erdgeschichte Forschende der ETH Zürich konnten erstmals messen, wie sich die Menge an gelöstem organischem Kohlenstoff im Meer über die Jahrmillionen verändert hat. Die Resultate zeigen, dass unsere Erklärungen, w...

Forschende der ETH Zürich konnten erstmals messen, wie sich die Menge an gelöstem organischem Kohlenstoff im Meer über die Jahrmillionen verändert hat. Die Resultate zeigen, dass unsere Erklärungen, wie Eiszeiten und komplexes Leben entstanden, lückenhaft sind.

Mehr Dazu:

Our NOMIS–ETH fellow Antonin Affholder recently joined SETI Live to discuss his study on the potential for microscopic life in Titan’s ocean.

The Leverhulme Centre for Life in the Universe Senior Fellowship programme is now open. Further details and how to apply www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/lclu-se... @leverhulme.ac.uk

Open Call for NOMIS–ETH Postdoctoral Fellowships The 2025 call for applications for the NOMIS–ETH Fellowship Programme within the Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life is open. Researchers are invited to apply until 7 November 2025, at 17:00 Zuri...

📣 Open Call – Applications are now open for the 2025 NOMIS–ETH Postdoctoral Fellowships at the @copl-eth.bsky.social. @ethz.ch

A great opportunity for early-career researchers to lead interdisciplinary projects on the origin & prevalence of life.

Learn more and apply: shorturl.at/RfjJJ

COPL Special Seminar with Prof. Benjamin Tutolo,
University of Calgary

"Salty Waters: Life’s Origins and Biological Habitability on Earth (and Mars?)"

Monday, 14 July 2025, 15:15pm, NO E 39, ETH Zentrum
@eth-eaps.bsky.social

copl.ethz.ch/events/detai...

Gabriel Giger awarded Origins Federation PhD Prize We congratulate Dr. Gabriel Giger on being awarded the 2025 PhD Prize by the Origins Federation for his outstanding doctoral research conducted at ETH Zurich under the supervision of COPL member Prof....

We're happy to share that Dr. Gabriel Giger has won the 2025 Origins Federation PhD Prize for his research on lab-induced endosymbiosis, done in the #VorholtLab @ethz.ch. He'll present at the #OriginsFederation annual conference in Chicago this fall.

More: copl.ethz.ch/news/COPL-ne...

Last week, we took a trip into the Bedretto Lab.

Led by Cara Magnabosco, the visit explored her team’s work on rock-breathing microbes living below the surface. Funded by COPL, her research blends metagenomics, cryo-EM & machine learning to study deep life. 🌍🪐 More here: shorturl.at/4I0Dd

Bacteria fight and feast with the same tool Many types of bacteria produce a protein complex that injects toxins into neighbouring cells to eliminate competitors. For the first time, researchers at ETH Zurich and Eawag discovered that these kil...

Many types of bacteria produce a protein complex that injects toxins into neighbouring cells to eliminate competitors. For the first time, researchers at ETH Zurich and Eawag discovered that these killer bacteria also use this weapon to feed on their neighbours.

ethz.ch/en/news-and-...

How trace elements are recycled in the deep sea Trace metals such as iron or zinc that are stored in deep-sea sediments are lost forever to phytoplankton on the ocean surface. This is what geochemists believed for a long time about the cycle of mic...

Phytoplankton in the ocean is key to CO2 sequestration. Now researchers found a cycle of micronutrients for its growth which was thought of as non-existent.

ethz.ch/en/news-and-...

COPL 101 Lunch Seminar with Prof. Caroline Dorn,
@ethz.ch

"New insights into super-Earths and sub-Neptunes"

Friday, 23 May 2025, 12:30pm, NO D 45, ETH Zentrum

copl.ethz.ch/events/detai...

ETH microbiologist honoured with prestigious European medical award Chemist and microbiologist Jörn Piel combs through the vast world of bacteria for new natural substances to combat the antibiotic crisis. The ETH professor has now been honoured for his research with ...

Breaking news and a great honour for D-BIOL professor Jörn Piel: he wins the very prestigious Jung Prize for Medicine! Our congratulations! ethz.ch/en/news-and-...

COPL 101 Lunch Seminar with Prof. Dongyang Huang,
Peking University

"Sequestration of volatiles into cores of rocky planets"

Friday, 16 May 2025, 12:30pm, HIT F 23.2, ETH Hönggerberg

copl.ethz.ch/events/detai...

YouTube video by Fraser Cain The Tricky Part of Finding Extraterrestrial Life

What if we couldn't find #Life in #Space? Find out on Fraiser Cain's 'Universe Today' podcast, featuring ETH researcher Daniel Angerhausen from the Centre for the Origin and Prevalence of Life.

@copl-eth.bsky.social @eth-eaps.bsky.social @fcain.universetoday.com

What if we don’t find any life on the exoplanets, Doctor Angerhausen? The planned space missions to search for remote life will provide valuable insights even if they do not find any evidence of life, says astrophysicist Daniel Angerhausen.

The planned space missions to search for remote life will provide valuable insights even if they do not find any evidence of life, says astrophysicist Daniel Angerhausen. ethz.ch/en/news-and-...

COPL 101 Lunch Seminar with Prof. Alexandra Turchyn Earth's habitable climate: The role of the ocean crust in regulating the carbon cycle over geological time

COPL 101 Lunch Seminar with Prof. Alexandra Turchyn,
@cambridgeuni.bsky.social

"Earth's habitable climate: The role of the ocean crust in regulating the carbon cycle over geological time"

Wednesday, 30 April 2025, 12:30pm, HIT F 23.2, ETH Hönggerberg.

copl.ethz.ch/events/detai...

Evolution by Nature and by Design From molecules to populations

Working on natural or directed evolution?

A 5-day summer school in Lausanne this July will bring together students across fields to explore evolution at multiple scales – molecular to microbial.

Register by 1 May 2025: evolution-school25.epfl.ch

COPL 101 Lunch Seminar with Prof. Audrey Vorburger The Search for Life in the Outer Solar System

COPL 101 Lunch Seminar with Prof. Dr. Audrey Vorburger,
@unibe.ch

"The Search for Life in the Outer Solar System"

The seminar will take place on Friday, 11 April 2025, at 12:30pm, in NO D 45, ETH Zentrum.

copl.ethz.ch/events/detai...

@eth-eaps.bsky.social

2025 Cohort of the NOMIS-ETH Fellows The Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life announces the 2025 cohort of NOMIS-ETH Fellows.

We are delighted to announce the 2025 cohort of NOMIS-ETH postdoctoral fellows. Thomas Drant and @aaffholder.bsky.social are joining the COPL, thanks to the generous support of the NOMIS Foundation.

copl.ethz.ch/news/COPL-ne...

@ethzurich.bsky.social @eth-eaps.bsky.social @usyseth.bsky.social

Maria Schönbächler, wann schlägt der nächste grosse Meteorit ein? Wie kam Leben auf die Erde? Gute Frage. Maria Schönbächler will sie beantworten. Dafür untersucht sie Meteoriten. Mit ihrer Doktorarbeit konnte sie zeigen, dass die Erde früher entstand, als bis…

Wie kam das Leben auf die Erde? Maria Schönbächler will das herausfinden und untersucht deshalb Meteoriten. Im SRF «Focus»-Podcast gibt sie Einblick in ihre Forschung und ihren Werdegang von der Postbeamtin zur Wissenschaftlerin an der @ethzurich.bsky.social, wo sie seit 10 Jahren lehrt.

Unfortunately, the 101 Lunch Seminar on 2 April with Prof. Klára Hlouchová have been cancelled due to the speaker’s illness.

COPL 101 Lunch Seminar with Prof. Klara Hlouchova Why these amino acids?

COPL 101 Lunch Seminar with Prof. Klára Hlouchová
@hlouchova-lab.bsky.social

"Why these amino acids?"

The seminar will take place on Wednesday, 2 April 2025, at 12:30pm, in HIT F 23.2, ETH Hönggerberg.

copl.ethz.ch/events/detai...

@eth-bsse.bsky.social @eth-dbiol.bsky.social

Were large soda lakes the cradle of life? Life needs sufficient phosphorus. However, the element is scarce, not only today but also at the time of the origin of life. So where was there sufficient phosphorus four billion years ago for life to...

Life requires sufficient #Phosphorus, which is scarce. Researchers in the #OriginOfLife field have found #Answers about where adequate phosphorus existed four billion years ago for life to emerge. ethz.ch/en/news-and-...

Credit: Margot Riggi (@margotriggi.bsky.social), Max-Planck Institute of Biochemistry (@mpibiochem.bsky.social)

Asgard archaea have actin - but what about microtubules? Where do they come from? 🧐 Our new paper www.cell.com/cell/fulltex... by @xujwet.bsky.social & @florianwollweber.bsky.social, in collaboration with the Schleper & Wieczorek labs, describes tiny Asgard microtubules! #TeamTomo #ArchaeaSky 1/6