Category: Prizes

Francesca Miozzi, Ana-Catalina (Ina) Plesa and Agustín Sánchez-Lavega Honoured by Europlanet Career Medals 2026

September 9, 2026

Francesca Miozzi, Ana-Catalina (Ina) Plesa and Agustín Sánchez-Lavega Honoured by Europlanet Career Medals 2026

Europlanet has announced the winners of its 2026 Career Medals, which are designed to honour outstanding contributions from planetary scientists at three stages of their careers. 

Francesca Miozzi is awarded the Europlanet Early-Career Medal for her experimental work on the interiors of rocky planets and exoplanets. Her pioneering high pressure and temperature experiments suggest that magma oceans may dissolve substantial quantities of hydrogen and generate water during planet formation – a result with significant implications for planetary habitability and exoplanet demographics. Beyond her research, Miozzi is dedicated to mentoring and building collaborations to support the community.

Ana-Catalina (Ina) Plesa is awarded the Europlanet Mid-Career Medal, which honours the memory of Paolo Farinella (1953-2000), for her contributions to planetary geodynamics. Her work on decoding the interior structures and dynamic histories of Mercury, Venus, the Moon and Mars, and bridging numerical modelling with geophysical and geological observations, has led to significant advances in our understanding of planetary interiors and evolution. Her contributions to the community include mentorship, outreach and serving as Chair of ESA’s Solar System and Exploration Working Group and as a member of the Space Science Advisory Committee. 

Agustín Sánchez-Lavega is awarded the Europlanet Lifetime Achievement Medal. As a planetary and atmospheric scientist, he has shaped the field in Europe over the last 35 years through his scientific research, university teaching and mentoring, service to the science community, and public outreach initiatives. His research into the atmospheric dynamics of Venus, Mars, the giant planets and exoplanets has combined observations, numerical modelling, theoretical assessments and support of missions, including Venus Express, Mars Express, Mars 2020, and Juice. His contributions have revealed the peculiar dynamics of major convective storms on Jupiter and Saturn, including the planetary-scale disturbance caused by Saturn’s Great White Spot. He has served as a member of multiple national and international scientific committees and working groups, and has been deeply involved in establishing a Spanish community of planetary scientists and building collaborations with amateur astronomers. 

Julia de León, Chair of the Medal Award Committee said, ‘Now into its second edition, the Europlanet Career Medals recognise the contributions of three individuals at different stages of their careers who have demonstrated significant impacts, not just for planetary science, but for our wider community. We are proud to honour these recipients of the 2026 medals and have the opportunity to highlight their many achievements by presenting these awards.’

The awards were presented at the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) 2026, which is taking place at Amare, The Hague, Netherlands, from 6-11 September.

Europlanet Early-Career Medal Winner, Francesca Miozzi

Francesca Miozzi is a Lecturer at the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at ETH Zürich in Switzerland and a Marie Curie Global Fellow on the project ‘ExoDivers: Diving into the mineralogy and structure of exotic rocky exoplanets’.

By training, she is an experimental mineral physicist and petrologist, exposing minerals to extreme pressures and temperature to investigate planetary interiors. Miozzi has a PhD in planetary geology from Sorbonne University in France and has held postdoctoral positions at the Carnegie Institution for Science in the US and La Statale University in Italy.

Miozzi’s major research accomplishments to date relate to hydrogen solubility in a magma ocean, interior modeling of exoplanets, and the compositional determination of exoplanetary metallic cores. As one of very few experimentalists shaping the discussion of exoplanet interiors, she connects mineral physics, experimental petrology, interior modelling, and astronomical observation. Beyond her own results, Miozzi is a committed mentor and her community building activities include convening workshops and fostering collaboration across career stages and fields. 

Europlanet Early-Career Medal citation: https://www.europlanet.org/europlanet-early-career-medal/

Europlanet Mid-Career Medal Winner, Ana Catalina Plesa

Ana-Catalina (Ina) Plesa is a Scientific Staff Member at the Department of Planetary Physics at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Berlin. She has a PhD in Geosciences from the University of Münster in Germany. At DLR, she established a Junior Research Group in planetary physics and plays an active role in shaping research strategy at the interface of geophysics, numerical modelling, and mission science. Her work has been funded by DLR, the German Science Foundation and other German funding schemes. 

Plesa’s 3D thermal evolution models are widely used as reference models within the planetary science community. She has conducted pivotal research on the long-term thermal evolution of Mars, being the first to couple three-dimensional crustal structure with fully-dynamic mantle evolution models. Her work has been instrumental in interpreting seismic data from the InSight mission and she serves as instrument lead scientist for the Venus Emissivity Mapper (VEM) aboard NASA’s VERITAS mission.

Alongside her scientific achievements, Plesa is deeply committed to community service and outreach. She currently serves as Chair of ESA’s Solar System and Exploration Working Group and as a member of the Space Science Advisory Committee. Her dedication to fostering talent has also been formally recognised through her selection as a Humboldt Scout, a distinction that enables her to nominate outstanding international researchers for Humboldt Fellowships. 

The Europlanet Mid-Career Medal continues to honour the memory and legacy of the Italian scientist, Paolo Farinella (1953-2000), in whose name the Farinella Prize was awarded from 2011-2024.

Europlanet Mid-Career Medal citation: https://www.europlanet.org/europlanet-mid-career-medal/

Europlanet Lifetime Achievement Winner, Agustín Sánchez-Lavega

Agustín Sánchez-Lavega is Emeritus Professor at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) in Bilbao. He was awarded his PhD from UPV/EHU and worked at various facilities and institutions during the 1980s, including the Calar Alto Observatory (Centro Astronómico Hispano Alemán, CAHA). After his return to Bilbao, he founded and led the Planetary Sciences Group at UPV/EHU, which is now one of the largest research groups in Planetary Science in Spain. He has been the Principal Investigator (PI) of 47 Research Projects funded by UPV-EHU, the Bizkaia Provincial Council, the Basque Government, Spanish Ministries, the European Union and the European Space Agency.

His research interests span the dynamics of the atmospheres of Venus and Mars, extending to the giant planets and exoplanets, and leverage synergies between observations, numerical modelling and theoretical assessments. He has supported multiple planetary missions by ESA and NASA, including Venus Express, Mars-2020, JUICE, Mars-Express. Sánchez-Lavega’s major research achievements relate to the observation and analysis of cloud structure, morphology and a variety of dynamical phenomena in the atmospheres of Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. In particular, he revealed the peculiar dynamics of major convective storms on Jupiter and Saturn, and Saturn’s Great White Spot planetary-scale disturbance. 

Sánchez-Lavega has served as a member of the Solar System Working Group of the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Spanish National Astronomical Committee, as a manager of the Spanish National Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Program, and as a member of the Scientific Committee for the European Extremely Large Telescope (ESO). He contributed to establishing a Spanish community of planetary science that later integrated into the Europlanet Spain and Portugal Regional Hub, and he participated in EC-funded Europlanet programmes to develop synergies with the global community amateur astronomers around the world.

He has taught courses at universities across Spain and Europe and is the founder of the Space Classroom and the Master’s degree in Space Science and Technology at the University of the Basque Country. A second edition of his University textbook, ‘An Introduction to Planetary Atmospheres’, is currently in preparation. 

He has also been honoured by the Spanish Royal Physics Society in 2010 and 2014, the Basque Country Government (Premio Euskadi) in 2016, the European Geophysical Union (David Bates medal) in 2020, and as a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union in 2025.

Europlanet Lifetime Achievement Medal citation: https://www.europlanet.org/europlanet-lifetime-achievement-medal/

https://ajax.ehu.es

Further information

The Europlanet Medals, launched in 2025, honour outstanding contributions to scientific excellence, community building, and outreach from individuals at three different stages of their scientific careers, covering the subjects addressed by the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC):

  • Terrestrial Planets 
  • Outer Planet Systems 
  • Missions, Instrumentation, Techniques, Modelling 
  • Small Bodies (comets, KBOs, rings, asteroids, meteorites, dust) 
  • Exoplanets, Origins of Planetary Systems and Astrobiology  

The categories are based on the scientific age of a researcher at time of nomination, which is calculated from the year of the last degree in scientific education (MSc, PhD) without counting parental leave, health leave, or time working primarily outside science. Each of the inaugural Europlanet Medal winners receives a plaque and a registration waiver for the EPSC-DPS 2025 Joint Meeting in Helsinki, where they will give a medal lecture.

The Europlanet Medals 

Images

Francesca Miozzi, winner of the Europlanet Early-Career Medal 2026. Credit: K Cain, Carnegie Science.

https://www.europlanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/EC-Francesca_Miozzi_square.webp

Ana-Catalina (Ina) Plesa, winner of the Europlanet Mid-Career Medal 2026. Credit: A-C Plesa.

https://www.europlanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/MC-Ana-Catalina-Plesa_square.webp

Agustín Sánchez-Lavega is awarded the Europlanet Lifetime Achievement Medal. Credit: A Sánchez-Lavega.

https://www.europlanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/LA-Agustin-Sanchez-Lavega_square.webp

Contacts

EPSC2026 Press Office
press@europlanet.org
+44 7756 034243

Notes for Editors

About the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) 

The Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC), established in 2006 as the European Planetary Science Congress, is currently the largest annual planetary science meeting in the world. It covers the entire range of planetary sciences, with an extensive mix of talks, workshops and poster sessions, as well as providing a unique space for networking and exchanges of experiences. It is the annual meeting of the Europlanet association.

Follow on social media (Bluesky, Instagram and LinkedIn) with the hashtag #EPSC2026 for updates on the meeting.

EPSC2026 is sponsored by The Hague and Partners, Springer, the Space: Science & Technology journal, and the American Astronomical Society’s Planetary Science Journal (PSJ).

About Europlanet

Europlanet (www.europlanet.org) is a non-profit association and membership organisation that provides the planetary science community with access to research infrastructure, services and training. The Europlanet Association Sans But Lucratif (AISBL), established in 2023, builds on the heritage of a series of projects funded by the European Commission between 2005 and 2024 (Grant Numbers 871149, 654208, 228319 and RICA-CT-2004-001637) to support the planetary science community in Europe and around the world. 

Call for Nominations for the Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement 2026

June 29, 2026

Call for Nominations for the Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement 2026

Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement 2026.

**Deadline for submissions is 20 July 2026**

About the Europlanet Prize For Public Engagement 2026

The Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement recognises achievements in engaging citizens with planetary science. The Prize is awarded annually to individuals or groups who have developed innovative and socially impactful practices in planetary science communication, engagement or education.

The Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement 2026 will consist of a cash award of €1000, a registration waiver and a travel grant of €250 for the EPSC2026 (6-11 September 2026) in The Hague, Netherlands.

The call is open until the 20th of July 2026. Winners will be notified before 30 July 2026.

Find out more:

Nominations Form
About the Prize
FAQs
Past Winners

Europlanet Career Medals 2026 – Call Extended

May 1, 2026

Europlanet Career Medals 2026 – Call Extended

New deadline for nominations: 8th May 2026 

As of April 30, the Europlanet Career Medals Committee has received a total of 14 nominations, out of which only 5 are for women. The female representation is particularly low at the Early and Mid-career categories. Europlanet fully supports gender equality and diversity, so we have decided to extend the submission deadline to 8 May 2026, strongly encouraging female & non-binary nominations.

The Europlanet Career Medals are an opportunity to honour outstanding contributions from individuals of three different scientific career stages to the scientific fields covered by the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC).  

One Europlanet Medal is awarded every year in each of the categories: Early-Career, Mid-Career and Lifetime Achievement. The categories are based on the scientific age of a researcher at time of submission. The Europlanet Mid-Career Medal honours the memory and the outstanding figure of Paolo Farinella (1953-2000), an extraordinary scientist and person, in whose name the Paolo Farinella Prize (2011-2024) was previously awarded. 

Find the nomination criteria and the nomination submission form on the Europlanet Medals website. 

The winners of the awards will be selected by the end of June and will be announced on the Europlanet and the EPSC2026 website.

We look forward to receiving your nominations and honour those who have been doing outstanding work in the exchange of scientific knowledge and ideas! 

Europlanet Medals

Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement 2025 awarded to RECA Educación 

September 22, 2025

Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement 2025 Awarded to RECA Educación 

The 2025 Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement has been awarded to Red de Estudiantes Colombianos en Astronomía (RECA) Educación, a Colombian non-profit network of volunteers that aims to bring science, astronomy and planetary science to schools and communities across Colombia. 

RECA Educación representatives Laura Ramirez Galeano and Natalia Oliveros received the prize, which comes with a cash award of €1000, and gave a lecture during the opening ceremony of the joint meeting of Europlanet Science Congress and the American Astronomical Society’s Division for Planetary Science (EPSC-DPS2025) in Helsinki.

Thibaut Roger, presenting the prize on behalf of Europlanet, said: “RECA is an inspirational organisation that carries out impactful work to engage communities and groups in remote and rural areas where access to science education can be extremely limited. Through the Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement, we are proud to recognise the importance of the volunteer work from RECA and its approach of combining rigorous science with culturally sensitive and inclusive teaching methods. They are a model for what astronomy outreach can achieve when driven by equity, passion and purpose.”  

The RECA association, founded in 2012, seeks to create and maintain strong links among Colombian astronomy students in the country and around the world. One of RECA’s main goals is to build a collaborative community of early-career and professional astronomers to strengthen the country’s scientific development and foster long-term academic growth. Since 2021, the educational node, RECA Educación, has spearheaded a public scientific outreach programme that deploys online communications to construct a bridge between professional scientists and school students across the country, including in the most rural communities. 

RECA Educación has developed multiple projects such as La Astronomía va a tu colegio (Astronomy Talks in Your School), Remote Observations in partnership with Shadow the Scientists, drawing contests, and BARCO (Bringing Astronomy to Rural Communities). The network currently reaches hundreds of schools in all 32 regions of Colombia, as well as participating in international collaborations to connect schools with scientists around the world.

The RECA team is composed primarily of young scientists and students, who are passionate about making science a right, not a privilege. Despite limited resources, they have developed creative and inclusive formats for delivering astronomy content, including storytelling sessions and hands-on experiments adapted for the home or classroom. 

On receiving the prize, Ramirez Galeano said: “We are truly honoured to receive the Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement 2025. It brings us great joy and motivation to know that our efforts to bring astronomy and planetary science to underserved and often overlooked communities are appreciated at such a level.”

As a next step, with the support of the Europlanet prize funding, RECA Educación aims to distribute to schools across Colombia copies of Salomé, a comic-based educational initiative that introduces children to exoplanets and the scientific method in an engaging, narrative-driven format. The team also plans to develop complementary workshops, and train teachers to use the Salomé comic as an accessible entry point to planetary science. 

Images

Laura Ramirez Galeano and Natalia Oliveros receiving the Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement 2025 on behalf of RECA Educación at EPSC-DPS2025 in Helsinki, Finland. Credit: Europlanet.

https://www.europlanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/RECA_EPSC-DPS2025_Prize_Presentation.jpeg

Full resolution image for download: https://www.flickr.com/photos/europlanetmedia/54793904351/sizes/o/

Video

The prize lecture by Laura Ramirez Galeano and Natalia Oliveros can be found here:

Contacts

Laura Ramirez Galeano
University of Geneva, Switzerland
RECA Educación 
reca.educacion@gmail.com

Natalia Oliveros Gomez
Johns Hopkins University, USA
RECA Educación
reca.educacion@gmail.com

EPSC-DPS2025 Press Office
press@europlanet.org

Notes for Editors

About RECA

We are a network that wants to unite and link Colombian astronomy students with professionals and aspiring astronomers.

  • Mission: Teach astronomy in Colombia at all educational levels, with the support of RECA’s professional astronomers. All resources we offer are free of charge for the benefit of school students and teachers.
  • Vision: To be a support for schools in their educational challenges of astronomy and a reference for the new generations of all the regions of Colombia. 

Find out more:

About the Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement

The Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement with Planetary Science, established in 2010, is awarded to individuals or groups who have developed innovative and socially impactful practices in planetary science communication and education.

Through the Prize, Europlanet aims to:

  • Recognise achievements in engaging European citizens with planetary science, promoting inspiration, learning and social responsibility.
  • Raise the profile of public engagement and education as valued activities within the scientific community. 

About the Joint Meeting of the Europlanet Science Congress and the Division of Planetary Sciences (EPSC-DPS) 

The Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC), established in 2006 as the European Planetary Science Congress, is the largest planetary science meeting in Europe. It covers the entire range of planetary sciences, with an extensive mix of talks, workshops and poster sessions, as well as providing a unique space for networking and exchanges of experiences.

EPSC joined forces for the first time with the American Astronomical Society’s Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) for a joint meeting in Nantes, France, in 2011. This was followed by DPS-EPSC 2016 in Pasadena, EPSC-DPS 2019 in Geneva, and the return to the United States for the DPS-EPSC 2023 meeting in San Antonio. This year marks the third iteration of a joint European-based meeting. The intent of the joint meetings is not only to connect the European and North American planetary science communities, but also to consolidate two major meetings and motivate planetary scientists from all over the globe to attend. With over 1800 participants joining in person and online, EPSC-DPS2025 is the largest planetary science meeting held to date in Europe. https://www.epsc-dps2025.eu

Follow on social media (Bluesky, X and LinkedIn) with the hashtag #EPSC-DPS2025 for updates on the meeting.

About Europlanet

Europlanet (europlanet.org) is a non-profit association and membership organisation that provides the planetary science community with access to research infrastructure, services and training. The Europlanet Association Sans But Lucratif (AISBL), established in 2023, builds on the heritage of a series of projects funded by the European Commission between 2005 and 2024 (Grant Numbers 871149, 654208, 228319 and RICA-CT-2004-001637) to support the planetary science community in Europe and around the world. 

About the DPS

The Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS), founded in 1968, is the largest special-interest Division of the American Astronomical Society (AAS). Members of the DPS study the bodies of our own solar system, from planets and moons to comets and asteroids, and all other solar-system objects and processes. With the discovery that planets exist around other stars, the DPS has expanded its scope to include the study of extrasolar planetary systems as well. The American Astronomical Society (AAS), established in 1899, is the major organization of professional astronomers in North America. The mission of the AAS is to enhance and share humanity’s scientific understanding of the universe as a diverse and inclusive astronomical community, which it achieves through publishing, meeting organization, science advocacy, education and outreach, and training and professional development.

Tim Lichtenberg, Benoit Carry and Jean Schneider Honoured by New Europlanet Career Medals

September 3, 2025

Tim Lichtenberg, Benoit Carry and Jean Schneider Honoured by New Europlanet Career Medals

Joint Meeting of the Europlanet Science Congress and the American Astronomical Society’s Division for Planetary Science (EPSC-DPS2025) Press Release.

Europlanet has announced the winners of its inaugural Career Medals, which are designed to honour outstanding contributions from planetary scientists at three stages of their careers. 

Dr Tim Lichtenberg is awarded the Europlanet Early-Career Medal in recognition of an interdisciplinary approach that has led to significant advances in the understanding of planetary formation and exoplanet evolution. Lichtenberg’s work has shed light on the influence of radioactive elements on early planetary heating, the distribution of water and other volatile materials in planetary systems, and how planets evolve to become habitable. 

Dr Benoit Carry is awarded the Europlanet Mid-Career Medal for his work to characterise the internal structures and compositions of asteroids and planetary small bodies. Carry’s research has given critical insights into the evolution of the early Solar System, as well as making an important contribution to planetary defence efforts and to open science. 

Prof Jean Schneider is awarded the Europlanet Lifetime Achievement Medal for his role as one of the ‘architects’ of modern planetary sciences. In addition to pioneering key methodologies for detecting and characterising exoplanets, including transit photometry and transmission spectroscopy, Schneider founded the Encyclopaedia of Exoplanetary Systems, which for thirty years has been a cornerstone resource for the international community.

Noah Jäggi, Chair of the Medal Award Committee said, ‘With this first set of Europlanet Career Medals, we are delighted to be able to recognise the contributions of three individuals who have had such a profound impact, not just on planetary science, but on our whole community. The achievements of our inaugural medallists demonstrate that, at each stage of a career, scientists can make a substantial difference to the field in which they work and to the colleagues that work alongside them. We are proud to honour these truly deserving recipients.’

The awards will be presented next week at the Joint Meeting of the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) and the American Astronomical Society’s Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) 2025, which will take place at Finlandia Hall, Helsinki, Finland, from 7-12 September.

Europlanet Early-Career Medal Winner, Tim Lichtenberg

Tim Lichtenberg.

Tim Lichtenberg works as Assistant Professor at the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute of the University of Groningen, where he leads the Forming Worlds Lab. His research bridges geochemistry, geophysics, climate science and exoplanet astronomy, and explores how factors like magma ocean longevity, the balance between oxidation and reduction processes, and core-mantle segregation can influence exoplanetary atmospheres and give insights into planetary evolution and habitability.

Lichtenberg proposed that the presence of aluminium-26 (26Al) during planet formation can heat and dry out embryonic planets. This theory could explain why planetary systems like our Solar System form largely dry terrestrial planets, contrasting with those in which Earth-mass exoplanets become water-rich ocean worlds. These theoretical insights have since been supported by observations of protoplanetary disks, analysis of stellar remnants that have been polluted by planetary debris, as well as evidence from meteorites formed very early in the Solar System’s history. These findings directly impact our understanding of the origin and distribution of long-lived atmospheres on terrestrial exoplanets.

Beyond his scientific achievements, Lichtenberg has shown leadership in community-building, promoting inclusive and team-spirited work environments and open science. He plays key roles in major international initiatives, including the Large Interferometer for Exoplanets (LIFE) project, several James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) programmes, and the interdisciplinary Rocky Worlds meeting series.

Europlanet Early-Career Medal citation: https://www.europlanet.org/europlanet-early-career-medal/

Forming Worlds Lab webpage: https://www.formingworlds.space

An interview with Tim Lichtenberg is included in Issue 8 of the Europlanet Magazine (Quickfire Questions with Tim Lichtenberg), with an extended version online (Exoplanets and Planetary Science: Two Different Worlds?).

Europlanet Mid-Career Medal Winner, Benoit Carry

Benoit Carry.

Benoit Carry, of the Lagrange laboratory of the Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur (OCA), uses observational and theoretical approaches for understanding the distribution and the compositional diversity of small bodies in planetary systems. His work in interpreting data from major space missions, such as Gaia and Euclid, has been pivotal in advancing our understanding of the formation of the asteroid belt and the evolution of the Solar System. 

Carry’s research has enabled more precise asteroid mass determinations, revealing key properties of asteroid interiors and substantially improving the accuracy of threat assessments for potentially hazardous asteroids. His collaborative work on compositional mapping of the asteroid belt has shaped current models of planetary migration and asteroid distribution. As co-chair of the ESA HERA mission’s Working Group on ground-based observations of Didymos, the target of the NASA DART and ESA HERA missions, he has taken a leading role in planning and interpreting asteroid deflection observations that will be vital for future planetary defence efforts. 

Alongside the scientific impact of his work, Carry is committed to open science and has developed critical infrastructure for the planetary science community, including tools that enable the real-time classification of astronomical alerts and services that provide comprehensive data on over a million asteroids and dwarf planets. 

The Europlanet Mid-Career Medal continues to honour the memory and legacy of the Italian scientist, Paolo Farinella (1953-2000), in whose name the Farinella Prize was awarded from 2011-2024.

Europlanet Mid-Career Medal citation: https://www.europlanet.org/europlanet-mid-career-medal/

Benoit Carry’s webpage: http://benoit.carry.free.fr

Europlanet Lifetime Achievement Winner, Jean Schnieder

Jean Schneider.

Jean Schneider is Emeritus Researcher at the Observatoire de Paris-Meudon. Nearly a decade before the first observation of an exoplanet, Schneider laid the theoretical groundwork for identifying exoplanets through transit photometry. Missions such as CoRoT, Kepler, and TESS have all built on these foundations, leading to the detection of thousands of new worlds, including CoRoT-7b, the first super-Earth with a measured radius.

In 1994, Schneider published the first work proposing transmission spectroscopy, a method of detecting the molecular fingerprints of gases on extrasolar planets by analysing light filtered through the atmospheres of planets passing in front of their host stars. This technique, used on JWST and Hubble data and underpinning the upcoming ESA Ariel mission, has characterised the atmospheres of around 100 exoplanets to date and may help ultimately to answer the question of whether planets other than Earth might harbour life. Schneider also pioneered methodologies for detecting planets around binary stars and exomoons, pushing the frontiers of what could potentially be observed.

Several months before the discovery of 51 Pegasi b in 1995, Schneider created the Encyclopaedia of Exoplanetary Systems, which today includes comprehensive information on over 7,600 planets orbiting other stars and is a unique resource for research, teaching and public outreach around the world. 

Throughout his career, Professor Schneider has shown a commitment to building the international collaborations and institutional frameworks required to support the advancement of planetary sciences, serving in many leadership roles for actions, working groups and steering committees at CNRS, ESO and the IAU. 

Europlanet Lifetime Achievement Medal citation: https://www.europlanet.org/europlanet-lifetime-achievement-medal/

Further information

The Europlanet Medals, launched in 2025, honour outstanding contributions to scientific excellence, community building, and outreach from individuals at three different stages of their scientific careers, covering the subjects addressed by the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC):

  • Terrestrial Planets 
  • Outer Planet Systems 
  • Missions, Instrumentation, Techniques, Modelling 
  • Small Bodies (comets, KBOs, rings, asteroids, meteorites, dust) 
  • Exoplanets, Origins of Planetary Systems and Astrobiology  

The categories are based on the scientific age of a researcher at time of nomination, which is calculated from the year of the last degree in scientific education (MSc, PhD) without counting parental leave, health leave, or time working primarily outside science. Each of the inaugural Europlanet Medal winners receives a plaque and a registration waiver for the EPSC-DPS 2025 Joint Meeting in Helsinki, where they will give a medal lecture.

Images

Tim Lichtenberg. Credit: T Lichtenberg/U. Groningen.

https://www.europlanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ECM_Lichtenberg.webp

Tim Lichtenberg. Credit: T Lichtenberg/U. Groningen.

https://www.europlanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Award_page.webp

Benoit Carry. Credit: E Hernandez/Observatoire de la Cote d’Azur

https://www.europlanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/MCM25_Carry.webp

Benoit Carry. Credit: E Hernandez/Observatoire de la Cote d’Azur

https://www.europlanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Award_page-1.webp

Jean Schneider. Credit: J Schneider.

Credit: https://www.europlanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Main_page.webp

Contacts

EPSC-DPS2025 Press Office
press@europlanet.org
+44 7756 034243

Notes for Editors

About the Joint Meeting of the Europlanet Science Congress and the Division of Planetary Sciences (EPSC-DPS) 

The Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC), established in 2006 as the European Planetary Science Congress, is the largest planetary science meeting in Europe. It covers the entire range of planetary sciences, with an extensive mix of talks, workshops and poster sessions, as well as providing a unique space for networking and exchanges of experiences.

EPSC joined forces for the first time with the American Astronomical Society’s Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) for a joint meeting in Nantes, France, in 2011. This was followed by DPS-EPSC 2016 in Pasadena, EPSC-DPS 2019 in Geneva, and the return to the United States for the DPS-EPSC 2023 meeting in San Antonio. This year will mark the third iteration of a joint European-based meeting. The intent of the joint meetings is not only to connect the European and North American planetary science communities, but also to consolidate two major meetings and motivate planetary scientists from all over the globe to attend.

Follow on social media (Bluesky, X and LinkedIn) with the hashtag #EPSC-DPS2025 for updates on the meeting.

About Europlanet

Europlanet (europlanet.org) is a non-profit association and membership organisation that provides the planetary science community with access to research infrastructure, services and training. The Europlanet Association Sans But Lucratif (AISBL), established in 2023, builds on the heritage of a series of projects funded by the European Commission between 2005 and 2024 (Grant Numbers 871149, 654208, 228319 and RICA-CT-2004-001637) to support the planetary science community in Europe and around the world. 

About the DPS

The Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS), founded in 1968, is the largest special-interest Division of the American Astronomical Society (AAS). Members of the DPS study the bodies of our own solar system, from planets and moons to comets and asteroids, and all other solar-system objects and processes. With the discovery that planets exist around other stars, the DPS has expanded its scope to include the study of extrasolar planetary systems as well. The American Astronomical Society (AAS), established in 1899, is the major organization of professional astronomers in North America. The mission of the AAS is to enhance and share humanity’s scientific understanding of the universe as a diverse and inclusive astronomical community, which it achieves through publishing, meeting organization, science advocacy, education and outreach, and training and professional development.

Call for Nominations for the Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement 2025

June 13, 2025

Call for Nominations for the Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement 2025

Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement 2025.

**Deadline for submissions is 18 July 2025**

About the Europlanet Prize For Public Engagement 2025

The Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement recognises achievements in engaging citizens with planetary science. The Prize is awarded annually to individuals or groups who have developed innovative and socially impactful practices in planetary science communication, engagement or education.

The Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement 2025 will consist of a cash award of €1000, a registration waiver and a travel grant of €250 for the EPSC-DPS 2025 Joint Meeting in Helsinki.

The call is now closed. Winners will be notified by 31 July 2025.

Find out more:

Nominations Form
About the Prize
FAQs
Past Winners

Europlanet Announces Career Medals – Call Now Open

March 14, 2025

Europlanet Announces Career Medals – Call Now Open

Deadline for nominations: 15 April 2025 

Europlanet has launched a new annual set of awards. The Europlanet Career Medals are an opportunity to honour outstanding contributions from individuals of three different scientific career stages to the scientific fields covered by the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC).  

One Europlanet Medal each will be awarded in the categories Early-Career, Mid-Career and Lifetime Achievement. The categories are based on the scientific age of a researcher at time of submission. The Europlanet Mid-Career Medal will honour the memory and the outstanding figure of Paolo Farinella (1953-2000), an extraordinary scientist and person, in whose name the Paolo Farinella Prize (2011-2024) was previously awarded. 

Find the nomination criteria and the nomination submission form on the Europlanet Medals website. 

The winners of the awards will be selected by the end of June and will be announced on the Europlanet and the EPSC-DPS2025 website.

We look forward to receiving your nominations and honour those who have been doing outstanding work in the exchange of scientific knowledge and ideas! 

Europlanet Medals

Winners of the #InspiredByOtherWorlds contest 2024

December 30, 2024

Winners of the #InspiredByOtherWorlds contest 2024

The winners of the Europlanet #InspiredByOtherWorlds Arts Contest have been announced.

Winner

First prize has been awarded to Reyla Rajiv, for her picture ‘Love you to the Moon and back’. She told us:

“I am Reyla. I am 6 years old. I love art and my favourite hobby is drawing and painting. I tell my stories through art. Another of my favourite hobby is space. Combining both of the favourite hobbies makes me happy and brim with joy.

When I heard of this contest theme, first thing that came to my mind was the quote my mom used to say ‘I love you to the Moon and back’. This art is how I visualise returning back from the Moon.

I love to see the moon from earth and one day I will see our beautiful Earth from the Moon, and when I return back, I will know what that quote really meant.”

‘Love you to the Moon and back’ by Reyla Rajiv, winner of the #InspiredByOtherWorlds Contest 2024.

Second Prize

Second Prize is awarded to Fanni Kereszturi for her collage ‘Small rocks from space, from dangerous asteroids’.

Fanni made this drawing using a black coloured sheet of paper, drawing smaller sub-topics on smaller white paper cut into pieces, and fixed with glue on the black paper. She finally drew the coloured parts and white stars. Fanni was inspired by stories told to her by her father about asteroids and missions to create a picture with “cute little asteroids and cute small lander spacecrafts on it … to show other children this is fun”.

‘Small rocks from space, from dangerous asteroids’ by Fanni Kereszturi.

Congratulations to Reyla and Fanni, who will received ESA gift cards as their prizes.

Here are also some of the other submissions selected by the judging panel as runners up.

'Our amazing solar system'. Model by Paraskevi Kytinou. This entry to the #InspiredByOtherWorlds contest 2024 shows models of planets placed on black paper, with white lines showing their orbits. The asteroid belt is marked in dust.
‘Our amazing solar system’. Model by Paraskevi Kytinou.
'Too far gone' by Austeja Pakstalyte. This piece is mixed media using acrylics, water color, oil pastel and markers.
‘Too far gone’ by Austeja Pakstalyte.
'The beauty beyond earth'. Painting by Gabrielė Pusvaškytė. The artist shows space beyond Earth as full of beautiful colours, with a spaceship from the near future.
‘The beauty beyond earth’. Painting by Gabrielė Pusvaškytė.
Poem 'The Never-Ending Quest' by Hasret Balcioglu. The poem is about returning to Earth with the samples collected in space. It represents a never-ending quest in human life.
Poem ‘The Never-Ending Quest’ by Hasret Balcioglu.

#InspiredByOtherWorldsContest

EPSC2024: Farinella Prize 2024 Awarded to Ravit Helled

September 9, 2024

Farinella Prize 2024 Awarded to Ravit Helled

EPSC2024 Press Release 

Prof Ravit Helled, of the University of Zurich in Switzerland, has been awarded the 2024 Paolo Farinella Prize for her outstanding contributions to research into ‘the internal structure of planetary bodies: clues on formation processes of the Solar System’. The award ceremony took place today during the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) 2024 in Berlin and was followed by a prize lecture by Prof Helled.

The annual prize was established in 2010 to honour the memory of the Italian scientist Paolo Farinella (1953-2000). Each year, the prize acknowledges an outstanding researcher not older than 47 years (the age of Prof Farinella when he passed away) who has achieved important results in one of Prof Farinella’s fields of work. Each edition of the prize focuses on a different research area and, in 2024, the topic covered theoretical, modelling, experimental and observational work on the internal structure of Solar System bodies, including planets, moons and small bodies. The award is supported by the Europlanet Society.

Prof Helled’s research deals with the formation of gaseous-rich planets inside and outside the Solar System. Her research on planetary interiors aims to determine the composition and internal structures of planets. She proposed that the cores of giant planets, which are enriched with heavy elements, might not be distinct from the rest of the deep interior region. This idea that cores are dilute or fuzzy, with some hydrogen and helium contained in the core and a gradual heavy-element structure extending into the deep interior, has since been confirmed by mission data. 

Adriano Campo Bagatin, of the University of Alicante in Spain, said on behalf of the Paolo Farinella Prize Committee: “Ravit Helled has made first-order contributions to our understanding of giant planet formation, structure and evolution. She introduced the idea of dilute cores that was subsequently confirmed by Juno and Cassini measurements of Jupiter and Saturn. She has investigated different possible structures for gas giants and ice giants, both in this Solar System and elsewhere, and has shown how these structures are related to accretion processes. She has a strongly international perspective with involvement in both ESA and NASA spacecraft missions.”

Prof Helled obtained her Bachelor’s degree and PhD from the University of Tel Aviv. She joined the Department of Astrophysics at the University of Zurich in 2016 as Assistant Professor and has been Full Professor since 2023. She is a Co-Investigator on NASA’s Juno and ESA’s Juice missions, a Science Team Member of ESA’s Plato mission and the Interior Working Group Leader and a Consortium Member of ESA’s Ariel mission.

Prof Helled said on receiving the award: “I am very honored to receive the Farinella Prize. I am proud to be part of the planetary science community and thankful for doing research on a daily basis. I also thank my collaborators, students and postdocs who make the science journey so exciting and enjoyable.“

About the Paolo Farinella Prize

The Paolo Farinella Prize (https://www.europlanet.org/paolo-farinella-prize/) was established to honour the memory and the outstanding figure of Paolo Farinella (1953-2000), an extraordinary scientist and person. The prize is awarded in recognition of significant contributions given in the fields of interest of Farinella, which span from planetary sciences to space geodesy, fundamental physics, science popularization, and security in space, weapons control and disarmament. The winner of the prize is selected each year on the basis of their overall research results in a chosen field. Candidates must participate in international and interdisciplinary collaborations, and be not older than 47 years, the age of Farinella when he passed away, at the date of 25 March 2000. The prize was first proposed during the ‘International Workshop on Paolo Farinella the scientist and the man’, held in Pisa in 2010 and supported by the University of Pisa, ISTI/CNR and by IAPS-INAF (Rome), and first awarded in 2011.

The 2024 Paolo Farinella Prize Committee:

  • Francis Nimmo (Chair. UC Santa Cruz, USA)
  • Erik Asphaug (Univ. of  Arizona, USA)
  • Ricardo Hueso (Univ. del País Vasco, Spain)
  • Hauke Hussmann (DLR, Germany)
  • Catherine Johnson (UBC, Canada)
  • Adriano Campo Bagatin (Univ. Alicante, Spain)

Paolo Farinella Prize winners:

  • 2011: William Bottke (Physics and dynamics of small Solar System bodies)
  • 2012: John Chambers (Formation and early evolution of the Solar System)
  • 2013: Patrick Michel (Collisional processes in the Solar System)
  • 2014: David Vokrouhlicky (Understanding of the dynamics and physics of Solar System, including how pressure from solar radiation affects the orbits of both asteroids and artificial satellites)
  • 2015: Nicolas Biver (Molecular and isotopic composition of cometary volatiles by means of submillimetre and millimetre ground and space observations)
  • 2016: Kleomenis Tsiganis (Studies of the applications of celestial mechanics to the dynamics of planetary systems, including the development of the Nice model)
  • 2017: Simone Marchi (Understanding the complex problems related to the impact history and physical evolution of the inner Solar System, including the Moon)
  • 2018: Francis Nimmo (Understanding of the internal structure and evolution of icy bodies in the Solar System and the resulting influence on their surface processes)
  • 2019: Scott Sheppard and Chad Trujillo (Observational characterisation of the Kuiper belt and the Neptune-trojan population)
  • 2020: Jonathan Fortney and Heather Knutson (Understanding of the structure, evolution and atmospheric dynamics of giant planets)
  • 2021: Diana Valencia and Lena Noack (Understanding of the interior structure and dynamics of terrestrial and super-Earth exoplanets)
  • 2022: Julie Castillo-Rogez and Martin Jutzi (Asteroids: Physics, Dynamics, Modelling and Observations)
  • 2023: Federica Spoto and Diego Turrini (From superbolides to meteorites: physics and dynamics of small planetary impactors).

Images

Prof Ravit Helled, winner of the Farinella Prize 2024, is looking directly at the camera.
Prof Ravit Helled. Credit: Jos Schmid.

Science Contacts

Prof Ravit Helled
Department of Astrophysics
University of Zurich
Switzerland
http://www.ics.uzh.ch/~rhelled/Site/Home.html
ravit.helled@uzh.ch

Media Contact
Anita Heward
Press Officer
EPSC2024
Phone: +44 7756 034243
a.heward@europlanet-society.org

About the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) 

The Europlanet Science Congress (https://www.epsc2024.eu/), established in 2006 as the European Planetary Science Congress, is the largest planetary science meeting in Europe and regularly attracts around 1200 participants. It covers the entire range of planetary sciences with an extensive mix of talks, workshops and poster sessions, as well as providing a unique space for networking and exchanges of experiences.

Follow on X/Twitter via @europlanetmedia and using the hashtag #EPSC2024.

About Europlanet

Europlanet (www.europlanet-society.org) is a not-for-profit association and membership organisation that provides the planetary science community with access to research infrastructure, services and training. The Europlanet Internationale Association Sans But Lucratif (AISBL), established in 2023, builds on the heritage of a series of projects funded by the European Commission between 2005 and 2024 to support the planetary science community in Europe and around the world. 

Europlanet received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement numbers 871149 (Europlanet 2024 Research Infrastructure) and 654208 (Europlanet 2020 RI), FP7 under grant agreement number 228319 (Europlanet RI) and FP6 under grant agreement number RICA-CT-2004-001637 (European Planetology Network).

The Ariel Data Challenge 2024

August 2, 2024

The Ariel Data Challenge 2024 is calling all data scientists, astronomers, and AI enthusiasts to help tackle one of astronomy’s most complex and important data analysis problems—extracting faint exoplanetary signals from noisy space telescope observations.

The NeurIPS 2024, a world-renowned machine learning conference, will feature an exciting competition based on the Ariel Space Mission. This contest offers participants a unique chance to contribute to cutting-edge research in the fascinating field of exoplanet atmospheres. With a substantial prize pool of $50,000 USD at stake, the competition aims to attract top talent and innovative solutions.

Find out more

Winners of 2024 Best Iberian Thesis Prize Announced

April 10, 2024

Winners Announced of the 2024 Europlanet Early Career Prize for Best Iberian Thesis in Planetary Sciences

The Europlanet Iberian Hub is proud to announce the winners of the first planetary early-career prizes in Spain & Portugal: 

  • “Abraham Zacut” Award: Best Iberian PhD Thesis in Planetary Sciences & Exploration
    • Winner: Jennifer Huidobro
    • Thesis Title : Exploring Martian and Lunar Geochemistry through the study of meteorites, analogs, laboratory simulation, and mission data analysis”.
    • Tutors: Juan Manuel Madariaga Mota and Julene Aramendia Gutiérrez
    • University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU)
  • “Pedro Nunes” Award: Best Iberian Master’s Thesis in Planetary Sciences & Exploration
    • Winner: Vasco Cardoso
    • Thesis Title: Collisional Evolution of Jupiter Trojans
    • Tutors: Nuno Peixinho and Paula Benavidez
    • University of Coimbra and University of Alicante
Jennifer Huidobro, Winner of the Europlanet Best Iberian PhD Thesis Award 2024.
Vasco Cardoso, Winner of the Europlanet Best Iberian MSc Thesis Award 2024.

Find out more

Europlanet Spain-Portugal Hub

14th “Paolo Farinella’’ Prize, 2024 

April 3, 2024

 14th “Paolo Farinella’’ Prize, 2024 

 To honor the memory and the outstanding figure of Paolo Farinella (1953-2000), an extraordinary scientist and person, a prize has been established in recognition of significant contributions in the fields of interest of Paolo, which spanned from planetary sciences to space geodesy, fundamental physics, science popularization, security in space, weapon control and disarmament. 

The call for nominations for the 14th edition is now closed. The 14th Paolo Farinella Prize will be awarded to a young scientist with outstanding contributions in the field of planetary science concerning “Internal structure of planetary bodies: clues on formation processes of the Solar System“, including theoretical, modelling, experimental and observational work on the internal structure of solar system bodies, namely planets, satellites, and small bodies. The award winner will be honored during the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) 2024 in Berlin (Germany). 

For the 14th “Paolo Farinella” Prize, the terms and rules are as follows: 

1. A competition is announced to award the “Paolo Farinella” Prize for the year 2024. The prize consists of a plate, a certificate and the amount of 1500 €. The winner is expected to give a Prize Lecture during EPSC2024. 

2. The winner will be selected on the basis of his/her overall research results in the field of “Internal structure of planetary bodies: clues on formation processes of the Solar System“. 

3. Nominations must be sent by email not later than 15 May 2024 to the following addresses: addresses: fnimmo@ucsc.edu, acb@ua.es and david.lucchesi@inaf.it, using the form downloadable from this link. The 2024 call is now closed.

4. The nominations for the “Paolo Farinella” Prize can be made by any researcher that works in the field of planetary sciences following the indications in the downloadable form. Self-nominations are acceptable. The candidates should have international and interdisciplinary collaborations and should be not older than the age of Paolo when he passed away, 47 years, as of 15 May 2024. 

5. The winner of the prize will be selected before 15 June 2024 by the “Paolo Farinella” Prize Committee, composed of outstanding scientists in planetary sciences, with specific experience in the field. 

6. The Prize Committee will consider all the nominations, but it will be entitled to autonomously consider other candidates. 

More about the Farinella Prize

Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement 2023 awarded to Daniela de Paulis and El Mehdi Essaidi

October 26, 2023

Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement 2023 awarded to Daniela de Paulis and El Mehdi Essaidi

Europlanet Press Release

The 2023 Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement has been awarded jointly to the artist, Daniela de Paulis, for her interdisciplinary programmes to bring space and planetary science to international audiences, and the science communicator, El Mehdi Essaidi, for his community-centric work in southern Morocco to share the wonders of our Solar System and the Universe.

Federica Duras, chair of the Europlanet Outreach Jury, said: “It is a great source of honour for Europlanet to recognise the achievements of these two inspiring professionals with such different projects, resources, outcomes. Above all, it shows us that bringing people closer to planetary science, and more generally to the wonder of the Universe, can be done in many ways, and it’s great to see how it’s being done in different parts of the world.”

Daniela de Paulis is an interdisciplinary artist, whose installations and performances have a strong public engagement component. She has collaborated with astronomers and space scientists for many years and is currently a SETI  Institute Artist-in-Residence (SETI AIR). Her latest project, “A Sign in Space”, invited people around the world to help decode a simulated message from an alien civilisation. The message was transmitted from Mars orbit on 24 May 2023 by the European Space Agency (ESA) mission, ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, and was received by three radio telescopes on Earth. The project reached people in 174 countries and over 85,000 people have viewed a livestream of the event. Almost 5,000 people registered on the online platform Discord, where the message was extracted from the raw signal data within less than 10 days; however the process is ongoing as people on Discord are now trying to decode and interpret the message. The design of the project required coordination with ESA, the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), the US-based Green Bank Observatory and the SETI Institute, as well as teams of radio astronomers, planetary scientists, engineers, communicators, artists, poets, philosophers, anthropologists and computer scientists, collaborating over different time zones for more than two years.

Claudia Mignone of INAF, who proposed Daniela de Paulis for the prize said: “The visionary idea of Daniela de Paulis brought together a wide audience from over a hundred countries, who have been sharing their thoughts and discussing themes related to space exploration and the quest for life in the Universe, but also what it means to be human at this particular time in history and what we are capable to do when we harness our collective knowledge.”

El Mehdi Essaidi, from the Asif n Ait Bounouh Association for Culture and Awareness in Ait Bounouh / Tafraoute, works to empower students and enhance science literacy in isolated and underserved communities in southern regions of Morocco. Through programmes that are tailored to the specific cultural contexts and local dialects, including astronomy workshops, hands-on experiments, story-telling, stargazing events, mentorship opportunities and observational research projects, El Mehdi Essaidi has motivated young individuals to pursue their dreams in the field of astronomy. By engaging both children and adults, he aims to create a ripple effect that spreads scientific curiosity throughout the community, and provide a relatable role model who shares their language and cultural background. With his latest project, “Asif Stars”, he has enabled communities in Morocco to conduct observational research using the Las Cumbres Observatory telescope network. 

Dr Youssef Oukhallou, President of the Youth Policy Center in Morocco, said: “El Mehdi Essaidi’s contributions to education and public engagement, particularly in the field of astronomy, have had a transformative impact on the lives of numerous individuals and communities, particularly in rural and marginalised areas.”

The winners are invited to give prize lectures at the Europlanet Science Congress 2024 in Berlin from 8-13 September 2024.

IMAGES

Daniela de Paulis, winner of the Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement 2023
Daniela de Paulis, winner of the Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement 2023. Credit: Bas Czerwinski. Download full resolution version
Daniela de Paulis at the Green Bank Observatory. Credit: Paul Vosteen/Green Bank Observatory

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Decoded Image: The message/binary code as extracted from the raw data received by the radio telescopes for “A Sign in Space” on 24 May 2023 in the form of an image. This is now being used by people trying to decode and interpret the message. Credit: A Sign in Space.

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“The Family Portrait” (2015) which was moonbounced as part of Daniela De Paulis’s project OPTICKS, using the Visual Moonbounce technology that the artist helped to develop. Credit: NASA/Charles Duke.

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"Still artfilm", a still image from Daniela de Paulis’s project "Mare Incognito" (2022).
“Still artfilm”, a still image from Daniela de Paulis’s project “Mare Incognito” (2022). Credit: Mirjam Somers/Bas Czerwinski, copyright: Daniela de Paulis.

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El Mehdi Essaidi, winner of the Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement 2023, leading a school session.
El Mehdi Essaidi, winner of the Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement 2023, leading a school session. Credit: Asif Astronomy Club.

https://www.europlanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Prize_2023_ElMehdi1.jpg

https://www.europlanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Prize_2023_ElMehdi2.jpg

https://www.europlanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Prize_2023_ElMehdi3.jpg

El Mehdi Essaidi, winner of the Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement 2023.
El Mehdi Essaidi, winner of the Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement 2023. Credit: Asif Astronomy Club.

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El Mehdi Essaidi leading an observing session. Credit: Asif Astronomy Club.

El Mehdi Essaidi leading an observing session. Credit: Asif Astronomy Club.

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El Mehdi Essaidi leading an observing session. Credit: Asif Astronomy Club.

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El Mehdi Essaidi leading a Robotic Telescope Workshop. Credit: Asif Astronomy Club.

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CONTACTS

Daniela de Paulis
Rotterdam, Netherlands
selavyrose@gmail.com
X (formerly Twitter): @danieladepaulis

El Mehdi Essaidi
Asif n Ait Bounouh Association for Culture and Awareness
Casablanca, Morocco
elmehdiessaidi@gmail.com

Federica Duras
Chair, Europlanet Outreach Jury
INAF
federica.duras@inaf.it

MEDIA CONTACT

Anita Heward
Europlanet Press Officer
+44 7756 034243
aheward@europlanet-society.org

FURTHER INFORMATION 

About Europlanet

Since 2005, Europlanet (www.europlanet-society.org) has provided Europe’s planetary science community with a platform to exchange ideas and personnel, share research tools, data and facilities, define key science goals for the future, and engage stakeholders, policy makers and European citizens with planetary science.  

The Europlanet Society promotes the advancement of European planetary science and related fields for the benefit of the community and is open to individual and organisational members. The Europlanet Society is the parent organisation of the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC).

A Blink of a Star: An Occultation Citizen Science Project – Europlanet Funding Scheme 2023 Grant

October 25, 2023

A Blink of a Star: An Occultation Citizen Science Project – Europlanet Funding Scheme 2023 Grant

Fostering curiosity about planetary sciences and space in general is the basis of the project conceived by Sergio Alonso Burgos and the team of “A Blink of a Star“, which has been awarded a grant under this year’s Europlanet Funding Scheme for Public Engagement.

The project is focused on the occultation of Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis) by Asteroid (319) Leona on 12 December 2023, which will be easily visible with the naked eye on various places on Earth. Such an uncommon phenomenon offers a great opportunity for outreach about these events and the science involving their study.

Federica Duras interviewed Sergio Alonso Burgos, the project leader of this citizen science project which aims to complement the professional observations of the occultation through an outreach campaign to engage the public with the science behind these phenomena.

–Sergio, where does the idea of “A blink of a Star” come from?

In the Sociedad Astronómica Granadina (SAG) we have a small team which is interested in observing occultations of different Solar System bodies: from asteroids from the main belt to more difficult targets as some transneptunian objects or even Polymele, the trojan asteroid to which NASA is going to visit with the Lucy mission. We are proud to be some of the few that managed to obtains useful data in a recent Polymele campaign in Spain (October 1st, 2021) thanks to a very accurate prediction made by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA).

During the past several years we have had a quite strong ProAm (Professionals-Amateurs) relation with the IAA scientists: they provide useful predictions and perform the scientific analysis of the light curves and we provide our portable powerful telescopes and devices (occultations may happen anywhere) and experience in the field, as not all professional astronomers know how to correctly set up a portable telescope in the middle of the countryside.

The predicted shadow path for the occultation. The event will be better seen from the south of Portugal, north of Andalusia (Huelva, Sevilla, Córdoba, Jaén) and Murcia.

A few months ago we started talking about the great occultation that is going to happen on 12 December 2023: Betelgeuse is going to be occulted by asteroid Leona. This is a very special occasion because by observing this event, scientists are going to be able to determine very important features of Betelgeuse that are still unknown such as, for example, its exact radius. This may seem strange, as Betelgeuse is a very bright star that can be easily spotted with the naked eye. However, that extreme brightness of the star hinders precise measurements as the cameras and instruments get saturated in a fraction of a second. We discussed how interesting it may be for anyone to observe this event, as no special equipment is needed. We thought that it could be a fantastic opportunity to introduce the general public to astronomy, occultations and the science behind this discipline. And here we are, trying to launch a project in which almost anyone with a normal camera may be able to record the event and thus contribute in the scientific study of Betelgeuse and Leona.

–How many people are involved in the creation and subsequent implementation of the project?

The project will involve dozens of people for all different activities that have to be made.

For the scientific part of the project (previous observations and computations for both Leona and Betelgeuse and the later analysis of the obtained light curves) we count on some of the IAA scientists. However, some of the SAG members are learning the procedures to reduce the data from the observations and even do some preliminary analysis in order to ease the task to the scientists. Moreover, IAA scientists will supervise all the resources that we are going to produce for the project to avoid any mistakes.

Some members of the Sociedad Astronómica Granadina that are involved in the project with their telescopes. Photo by Ramón L. Pérez

For the outreach part of the project we count on some specialists in scientific outreach from the Fundación Descubre.  Not only they are used to promote outreach activities, but they have also contributed to several different citizen science projects and they will be of great help to gather interest in the project from many different groups: high school students and teachers, city halls in the towns where the occultation will be visible and the general public.

However, the biggest effort concerning the citizen science project will be on the SAG members. We are a small group (around 20 people) but we will be in charge of coordinating and preparing all the activities that are going to be carried out: from conferences to preparing tutorials on how to do the observations, a photography contest related to the event and so on.

–How difficult is it to coordinate the people involved, being so different types of figures (astronomers, amateurs, citizens)?

It is not easy but, fortunately, we already have some experience organising these kind of events, even if at a lower scale, and the relation among the different actors at this moment is quite good. One of the best things of this kind of projects is that professional astronomers, amateurs and outreach professionals know what can be done by each group. I’m pretty sure that in the following weeks the amount of emails, video conferences, telephone calls and Telegram messages will increase a lot, but I hope we will be able to manage it properly (now I’m crossing fingers).

–What do you expect from the project? And when (in time)?
Since the event takes place on 12 December 2023, these next weeks are going to be very intense. At this stage the main goal is to attract a lot of people to record the event in order to have as many light curves as possible. After the event, the IAA team will perform all the scientific analysis of the results and hopefully determine important information about Betelgeuse and Leona.

For the outreach side of the project, we expect to grab the interest of the public, especially high school students, hoping to transmit them the passion for science and present a real example of performing a scientific experiment with a rigorous protocol. We are going to make a special effort to attract as many female students in all the activities of the project as possible to try to narrow the gender gap in STEM. We want the project to continue after the occultation event itself by presenting results to the scientific community in different conferences and doing more activities for the general public. I would like to point out that there is a section on the event website that could be useful for teachers, with an online simulator that allows them to better understand the phenomenon and generate ‘artificial light curves’.

Additionally, we hope that some amateurs astronomers that have not previously had interest in the study of this kind of events will participate in future ProAm occultation campaigns.

–Do you think Europlanet could be a useful link? And if yes, why?

Of course it will. We know that many observers from Europe are thinking about travelling to Spain for the occasion and the diffusion of this project by Europlanet may help us to get in contact with all those observers to try to coordinate and get the best results.

-Is this a term-project? If not, what is the future of the project?

At this moment, the plan is that the project will end once all the analysis of the data is made, all programmed activities are finished and once the results are published. Since this event is quite unique we cannot guarantee that the project will continue (at least in the same conditions). However, we expect that the experience to coordinate so many people with different backgrounds will be useful for other future occultation campaigns. 

Fingers crossed Sergio, we cannot wait to see what this collaboration will bring and to find out what secrets of Betelgeuse will be revealed!

2023 Farinella Prize Awarded to Federica Spoto and Diego Turrini

October 2, 2023

2023 Farinella Prize Awarded to Federica Spoto and Diego Turrini

Europlanet Society Press Release

Dr Federica Spoto, of the Minor Planet Centre in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and Dr Diego Turrini, of the National Institute for Astrophysics – Turin Astrophysical Observatory (INAF-OATo) in Italy, have been awarded jointly the 2023 Paolo Farinella Prize for their outstanding contributions to the field “From superbolides to meteorites: physics and dynamics of small planetary impactors”. The award ceremony will take place during the 55th Annual Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) meeting joint with the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) in San Antonio, Texas, and online and will be followed by prize lectures by each of the winners.

The annual prize was established in 2010 to honour the memory of the Italian scientist Paolo Farinella (1953-2000). Each year, the prize acknowledges an outstanding researcher not older than 47 years (the age of Prof Farinella when he passed away) who has achieved important results in one of Prof Farinella’s fields of work. Each edition of the prize focuses on a different research area and, in 2023, the topic was chosen to highlight recent advances in knowledge about small-size Near-Earth Object (NEO) populations. The award is supported by the Europlanet Society.

Ettore Perozzi, Senior Scientist at the Science Directorate of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and Chair of the 2023 Paolo Farinella Committee, said on behalf of the Prize Committee: “The work of Diego Turrini has provided deep insights into the collisional processes occurring early in the history of planetary systems, while Federica Spoto has paved the way to quickly identify and reliably compute the orbit of imminent impactors of the Earth. That is the beginning and the end of the long journey of meteorites.”

Dr Spoto’s research focuses on advanced methods to determine the orbits of asteroids and
the age of asteroid families. She led an international team of experts responsible for the validation of the Gaia Solar System objects, a necessary step to ensure the quality of the data in every release. Throughout her career, Dr Spoto has tackled the challenge of efficiently determining the orbits of ‘imminent impactors’ – newly discovered objects approaching our planet that, depending on their size and composition, could result in meteorites reaching the ground and potentially causing significant damage.

“Federica’s outstanding contribution has been twofold: addressing from a theoretical point of view a highly complex chaotic orbit determination problem, and translating the results into practical algorithms for responding to the needs of the operational systems for planetary defence,” said Dr Perozzi.

Through theoretical work, modelling and observations, Dr Turrini has investigated the dynamical and collisional evolution of Solar System bodies, in particular during the early phases of planetary formation. His work highlights the role small planetary impactors play in shaping planetary bodies and their surfaces through collisional erosion and contaminating their chemical composition. He led the development of the ‘Jovian Early Bombardment’ scenario, which describes how the formation and migration of Jupiter triggered a primordial bombardment in the asteroid belt, and the search for its signatures in protoplanetary disks hosting newly formed giant planets. As a scientific team member of the visible and infrared imaging spectrometer (VIR) instrument on the Dawn mission, Dr Turrini combined impact contamination models with in-situ measurements of Vesta and meteoritic data to explain the abundance of dark, carbon-rich material, as well as the unexpected presence of water and olivine deposits, on the surface of Vesta, the second biggest asteroid in the Solar System. These methods developed to study the contamination of asteroids are now providing the basis for investigating how small impactors shape the atmospheric composition of giant exoplanets.

“Diego’s impressive list of participation in high-level committees, such as the ESA Solar System and Exploration Working Group (SSEWG), and his involvement in past, present and future space missions, including Dawn, Juno, Ariel, JUICE and BepiColombo, witness the appreciation of his work by the international astronomical and space science communities,” said Dr Perozzi.

Dr Spoto obtained her academic degrees in celestial mechanics at the Department of Mathematics of the University of Pisa, Italy. She then moved to France to take up post-doctoral positions at Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur and at the Institut de Mécanique Céleste et de Calcul des Éphémérides (IMCCE) in Paris. In February 2020, she joined the IAU Minor Planet Centre where she now holds the role of project scientist.

Dr Turrini obtained a Master’s degree in physics at the University of Milano Bicocca and a PhD in space science and technology at the Center of Studies and Activities for Space (CISAS) “Giuseppe Colombo” at the University of Padova, Italy. He then moved to INAF for his post-doctoral studies and is currently a researcher at INAF-OATo, on transfer from the INAF – Institute for Space Astrophysics and Planetology (INAF-IAPS) in Rome.

About the Paolo Farinella Prize

The Paolo Farinella Prize (https://www.europlanet.org/paolo-farinella-prize/) was established to honour the memory and the outstanding figure of Paolo Farinella (1953-2000), an extraordinary scientist and person. The prize is awarded in recognition of significant contributions given in the fields of interest of Farinella, which span from planetary sciences to space geodesy, fundamental physics, science popularization, and security in space, weapons control and disarmament. The winner of the prize is selected each year on the basis of their overall research results in a chosen field. Candidates must participate in international and interdisciplinary collaborations, and be not older than 47 years, the age of Farinella when he passed away, at the date of 25 March 2000. The prize was first proposed during the ‘International Workshop on Paolo Farinella the scientist and the man’, held in Pisa in 2010 and supported by the University of Pisa, ISTI/CNR and by IAPS-INAF (Rome), and first awarded in 2011.

The 2023 Paolo Farinella Prize Committee:

Ettore Perozzi (ASI, Italy), Chair
Alceste Bonanos (National Observatory of Athens, Greece)
Daniele Gardiol (INAF – Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Italy)
Maria Hajdukova (Astronomical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences)
Robert Jedicke (University of Hawaii, USA)
Peter Jenniskens (SETI Institute, USA)

Paolo Farinella Prize winners:

2011: William Bottke (Physics and dynamics of small Solar System bodies)
2012: John Chambers (Formation and early evolution of the Solar System)
2013: Patrick Michel (Collisional processes in the Solar System)
2014: David Vokrouhlicky (Understanding of the dynamics and physics of Solar System, including how pressure from solar radiation affects the orbits of both asteroids and artificial satellites)
2015: Nicolas Biver (Molecular and isotopic composition of cometary volatiles by means of submillimetre and millimetre ground and space observations)
2016: Kleomenis Tsiganis (Studies of the applications of celestial mechanics to the dynamics of planetary systems, including the development of the Nice model)
2017: Simone Marchi (Understanding the complex problems related to the impact history and physical evolution of the inner Solar System, including the Moon)
2018: Francis Nimmo (Understanding of the internal structure and evolution of icy bodies in the Solar System and the resulting influence on their surface processes)
2019: Scott Sheppard and Chad Trujillo (Observational characterisation of the Kuiper belt and the Neptune-trojan population)
2020: Jonathan Fortney and Heather Knutson (Understanding of the structure, evolution and atmospheric dynamics of giant planets)
2021: Diana Valencia and Lena Noack (Understanding of the interior structure and dynamics of terrestrial and super-Earth exoplanets)
2022: Julie Castillo-Rogez and Martin Jutzi (Asteroids: Physics, Dynamics, Modelling and Observations)

Images

Farinella Prize winner 2023: Federica Spoto.
Dr Federica Spoto, joint winner of the Farinella Prize 2023. Credit: Jonathan Sullivan.

Download the full resolution image:
https://www.europlanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Federica_Spoto_Farinella_2023.jpg

Farinella Prize winner 2023: Diego Turrini.
Dr Diego Turrini, joint winner of the Farinella Prize 2023. Credit: Danae Polychroni

Download the full resolution image:
https://www.europlanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Diego_Turrini_Farinella_2023.jpg

Science Contacts

Dr Federica Spoto
Minor Planet Center
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
Cambridge (MA)
USA
Phone: +1 (617) 495-7170
federica.spoto@cfa.harvard.edu

Dr Diego Turrini
National Institute for Astrophysics
Turin Astrophysical Observatory (INAF-OATo)
Italy
Phone: +39 011 8101933
diego.turrini@inaf.it

Media Contact

Anita Heward
Press Officer
Europlanet Society
Phone: +44 7756 034243
a.heward@europlanet-society.org

About Europlanet

Since 2005, Europlanet has provided Europe’s planetary science community with a platform to exchange ideas and personnel, share research tools, data and facilities, define key science goals for the future, and engage stakeholders, policy makers and European citizens with planetary science.

The Europlanet Society (www.europlanet-society.org) promotes the advancement of European planetary science and related fields for the benefit of the community and is open to individual and organisational members. The Society’s aims are:
• To expand and support a diverse and inclusive planetary community across Europe through the activities of its 10 Regional Hubs.
• To build the profile of the sector through outreach, education and policy activities
• To underpin the key role Europe plays in planetary science through developing links at a national and international level.

Calls for Europlanet Outreach Funding Scheme and Prize 2023

May 30, 2023

Calls for Europlanet Outreach Funding Scheme and Prize 2023

Are you looking for funding to kickstart an outreach or education project related to planetary science? Or have you run a successful public engagement project for which you deserve some recognition?

The Calls are now open for applications for the Europlanet Outreach Funding Scheme 2023 and nominations for the Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement 2023.

**Deadline for submissions is 19 July 2023**

About the Europlanet Outreach Funding Scheme 2023

Europlanet awards grants of between 1 000 and 5 000 Euros to fund projects to engage the public with planetary science. Through the funding scheme, Europlanet aims to encourage new ways of sharing planetary science with different kinds of audiences across Europe (and beyond) to create socially impactful initiatives that combine research, learning, innovation and social development.

Find out more at: https://www.europlanet.org/outreach/funding-scheme/europlanet-public-engagement-funding-scheme-2023-application-form/

About the Europlanet Prize For Public Engagement 2023

The Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement recognises achievements in engaging citizens with planetary science. The Prize of 1 500 Euros is awarded annually to individuals or groups who have developed innovative and socially impactful practices in planetary science communication and education.

The winner will be honoured at the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) 2022 in Granada will be invited to share experiences and best practice by delivering an Awards Ceremony.

Find out more at: https://www.europlanet.org/prize/europlanet-prize-for-public-engagement-2023-application-form/

Join the hunt for exoplanets – Ariel Data Challenge 2023

April 14, 2023

Calling AI experts! Join the hunt for exoplanets – Ariel Data Challenge 2023

Artificial Intelligence (AI) experts have been challenged to help a new space mission to investigate Earth’s place in the universe.

The Ariel Data Challenge 2023, which launches on 14 April, is inviting AI and machine learning experts from industry and academia to help astronomers understand planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. 

Dr Ingo Waldmann, Associate Professor in Astrophysics, UCL (University College London) and Ariel Data Challenge lead said: 

“AI has revolutionised many fields of science and industry in the past years. The field of exoplanets has fully arrived in the era of big-data and cutting edge AI is needed to break some of our biggest bottlenecks holding us back.” 

Understanding our place in the universe

For centuries, astronomers could only glimpse the planets in our solar system but in recent years, thanks to telescopes in space, they have discovered more than 5000 planets orbiting other stars in our galaxy. 

The European Space Agency’s Ariel telescope will complete one of the largest-ever surveys of these planets by observing the atmospheres of around one-fifth of the known exoplanets.  

Due to the large number of planets in this survey, and the expected complexity of the captured observations, Ariel mission scientists are calling for the help of the AI and machine learning community to help interpret the data.

Ariel Data Challenge

Ariel will study the light from each exoplanet’s host star after it has travelled through the planet’s atmosphere in what is known as a spectrum. The information from these spectra can help scientists investigate the chemical makeup of the planet’s atmosphere and discover more about these planets and how they formed. 

Scientists involved in the Ariel mission need a new method to interpret these data. Advanced machine learning techniques could help them to understand the impact of different atmospheric phenomena on the observed spectrum.

The Ariel Data Challenge calls on the AI community to investigate solutions. The competition is open from 14 April to 18 June 2023.

Participants are free to use any model, algorithm, data pre-processing technique or other tools to provide a solution. They may submit as many solutions as they like and collaborations between teams are welcomed.

This year, the competition also offers participants access to High Powered Computing resources through DiRAC, part of the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council’s computing facilities.

Kai Hou (Gordon) Yip, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at UCL and Ariel Data Challenge Lead said:

“With the arrival of next-generation instrumentation, astronomers are struggling to keep up with the complexity and volume of incoming exo-planetary data. The ECML-PKDD data challenge 2023 provides an excellent platform to facilitate cross-disciplinary solutions with AI experts.” 

The competition

Winners will be invited to present their solutions at the prestigious ECML conference. The top three winning teams will be receive sponsored tickets to ECML-PKDD in Turing or the cash equivalent. 

Winners will also be invited to present their solutions to the Ariel consortium.

The UK Space Agency, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), European Research Council, UKRI Science and Technology Funding Council (STFC), European Space Agency and Europlanet Society support the competition.

For the first time, DiRAC is providing free access to GPU computing resources to selected participants. The application is open for all.

Previous competition

This is the fourth Ariel Machine Learning Data challenge following successful competitions in 2019, 2021 and 2022. The 2022 challenge welcomed 230 participating teams from across the world, including entrants from leading academic institutes and AI companies. 

This challenge and its predecessor have taken a bite-sized aspect of a larger problem to help make exoplanet research more accessible to the machine-learning community. These challenges are not designed to solve the data analysis issues faced by the mission outright but provide a forum for new ideas, discussions and to encourage future collaborations.

More details about the competition and how to take part can be found on the Ariel Data Challenge website. Follow @ArielTelescope for more updates. 

Videos: 

Note: Please get in touch with press contact for mp4 files. 

Ariel animations: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7nlYuIpjicaxp36LxZwkXOH72Otf-rgY  

Welcome to Ariel: https://youtu.be/28afJ_5TTGc

Contacts: 

Rebecca Leigh Coates

Ariel Space Mission and UCL Centre for Space Exochemistry Data Communications (CSED) Media Officer

Mob: +44 (0) 7890162840

Email: r.l.coates@ucl.ac.uk

Notes to editors: 

Ariel (Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey) 

Ariel, a mission to answer fundamental questions about how planetary systems form and evolve, is a European Space Agency (ESA) medium-class science mission due for launch in 2028. During a 4-year mission, Ariel will observe 1000 planets orbiting distant stars in visible and infrared wavelengths to study how they formed and how they evolve. It is the first mission dedicated to measuring the chemistry and thermal structures exoplanet atmospheres, enabling planetary science far beyond the boundaries of the Solar System. 

The Ariel mission has been developed by a consortium of more than 50 institutes from 16ESA member state countries, including the UK, France, Italy, Poland, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Portugal, Norway, Sweden, Estonia –plus USA contribution from NASA. 

Twitter: @ArielTelescope | YouTube: Ariel Space Mission | www.arielmission.space

Ariel Machine Learning Data Challenge

https://www.ariel-datachallenge.space/

Ariel consortium 

The Ariel mission payload is developed by a consortium of more than 50 institutes from 17 ESA countries – which include the UK, France, Italy, Poland, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Portugal, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Estonia – plus a NASA contribution. 

The Europlanet Society is collaborating with the Ariel Consortium on media and communications.

About UCL – London’s Global University

UCL is a diverse global community of world-class academics, students, industry links, external partners, and alumni. Our powerful collective of individuals and institutions work together to explore new possibilities.

Since 1826, we have championed independent thought by attracting and nurturing the world’s best minds. Our community of more than 43,800 students from 150 countries and over 14,300 staff pursues academic excellence, breaks boundaries and makes a positive impact on real world problems.

We are consistently ranked among the top 10 universities in the world and are one of only a handful of institutions rated as having the strongest academic reputation and the broadest research impact. 

We have a progressive and integrated approach to our teaching and research – championing innovation, creativity and cross-disciplinary working. We teach our students how to think, not what to think, and see them as partners, collaborators and contributors.  

For almost 200 years, we are proud to have opened higher education to students from a wide range of backgrounds and to change the way we create and share knowledge. 

We were the first in England to welcome women to university education and that courageous attitude and disruptive spirit is still alive today. We are UCL.

www.ucl.ac.uk | Follow @uclnews on Twitter | Read news at www.ucl.ac.uk/news/ | Listen to UCL podcasts on SoundCloud | Find out what’s on at UCL Minds

13th “Paolo Farinella’’ Prize, 2023 

March 16, 2023

 13th “Paolo Farinella’’ Prize, 2023 

 To honor the memory and the outstanding figure of Paolo Farinella (1953-2000), an extraordinary scientist and person, a prize has been established in recognition of significant contributions in the fields of interest of Paolo, which spanned from planetary sciences to space geodesy, fundamental physics, science popularization, security in space, weapon control and disarmament. 

The call for nominations for the 13th edition is now open. The 13th Paolo Farinella Prize will be awarded to a young scientist with outstanding contributions in the field of planetary science concerning “From superbolides to meteorites: physics and dynamics of small planetary impactors” hence including also the study of meteor showers and of the cratering events on the solid bodies of the solar system: theoretical, modelling, experimental and observational work. The award winner will be honored during the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) 2023, which will be held as a joint meeting with the AAS Division of Planetary Sciences (DPS) in San Antonio (Texas, USA). 

For the 13th “Paolo Farinella” Prize, the terms and rules are as follows: 

1. A competition is announced to award the “Paolo Farinella” Prize for the year 2023. The prize consists of a plate, a certificate and the amount of 1500 €. The winner is expected to give a Prize lecture during EPSC 2023. 

2. The winner will be selected on the basis of his/her overall research results in the field of ” “From superbolides to meteorites: physics and dynamics of small planetary impactors” – hence including also the study of meteor showers and of the cratering events on the solid bodies of the solar system. 

3. Nominations must be sent by email not later than May 10th to the following addresses: ettore.perozzi@asi.it, mario.dimartino@inaf.it, acb@ua.es and david.lucchesi@inaf.it, using the form downloadable from this link. 

4. The nominations for the “Paolo Farinella” Prize can be made by any researcher that works in the field of planetary sciences following the indications in the downloadable form. Self-nominations are acceptable. 

The candidates should have international and interdisciplinary collaborations and should be not older than the age of Paolo when he passed away, 47 years, as of May 1st, 2023. 

5. The winner of the prize will be selected before June 20 by the “Paolo Farinella” Prize Committee composed of outstanding scientists in planetary sciences, with specific experience in the field. 

6. The Prize Committee will consider all the nominations, but it will be entitled to autonomously consider other candidates. 

More about the Farinella Prize

Report on 54th Conference on Variable Star Research

December 13, 2022

Report on 54th Conference on Variable Star Research

Meeting report by Felip Walter of the Variable Stars and Exoplanet Section of the Czech Astronomical Society.

The 54th Variable Star Conference took place from 25-27 November in hybrid-format in Ostrava, Czech Republic, and online. The meeting was very positively received by both national and international audiences. We had 50 in-person participants from the Czech Republic and five international guests. We also had 12 Czech and 18 international online participants from as far afield as India, Brazil, UK, Ukraine and Iceland, as well as and other, closer European countries, including our neighbour, Slovakia. 

Concerning planetary sciences, there was a lecture about the DART mission given by Petr Scheirich, as well as lectures about HST and JSWT photometric and spectroscopic observation of exoplanets by Angelos Tsiaras, and a presentation by Günter Wuchterl (in person) and Petr Kabáth (online from newly opened La Silla  PLATOSpec telescope) about the ground component of the PLATO mission.

Yves Jongen, probably one of the most productive amateur observers of exoplanetary transits presented his work and received the very first Exoplanet Transit Prize from the Czech Astronomical Society ETD project. He has observed around 1500 individual transits during five years of activity. 

Seven students (both high school and university students) presented their work in the student section. Marko Mesarč from Masaryk University, Brno received the prize for the presentation of his work on exoplanetary candidates photometry. 

The meeting has surely supported pro-am and international collaboration, as everyone – and most importantly our young guests, the students of Czech high schools – used the opportunity to meet enthusiastic amateurs and professionals from the Czech Republic and abroad. 

Online participants at the hybrid 54th Conference on Variable Star Research
Participants at the 54th Conference on Variable Star Research
Participants at the 54th Conference on Variable Star Research
Participants at the 54th Conference on Variable Star Research
Yves Jongen received the first Exoplanet Transit Prize from the Czech Astronomical Society ETD project.
Yves Jongen received the first Exoplanet Transit Prize from the Czech Astronomical Society ETD project.
Yves Jongen received the first Exoplanet Transit Prize from the Czech Astronomical Society ETD project.
Yves Jongen received the first Exoplanet Transit Prize from the Czech Astronomical Society ETD project.
Photos courtesy of Pavel Cagaš.

54th Conference on Variable Star Research website

Winner of the #PlanetaryScience4All EPEC-EPSC Video Contest 2022

September 23, 2022

The winner of the #PlanetaryScience4All EPEC-EPSC Video Contest 2022 is ’29P & Comet Chasers’ by Cai Stoddard-Jones.

Hi, I’m Cai, a first year PhD student at Cardiff University. I’m from North Wales originally, but made the trek down south in 2017 to start my MPhys. I like to listen to and make music in my free time either singing or playing my guitar. I’m researching comet 29P’s unusual activity, it’s the most observed comet ever yet, we know very little about it. I aim to characterise the comet. In addition, I develop resources and experiments for a project called ‘Comet Chasers’ in Wales. We teach kids about cometary science and giving them LCO telescope time to take their own images. If their images are used by researchers, their schools are credited.

Find out more about #PlanetaryScience4All

More about EPEC

2022 Farinella Prize Awarded to Julie Castillo-Rogez and Martin Jutzi

September 20, 2022

2022 Farinella Prize Awarded to Julie Castillo-Rogez and Martin Jutzi

Dr Julie Castillo-Rogez, a planetary scientist working at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California (USA), and Dr Martin Jutzi, a physicist working at the Physics Institute of University of Bern (Switzerland), have been awarded jointly the 2022 Paolo Farinella Prize for their outstanding contributions to the field of “Asteroids: Physics, Dynamics, Modelling and Observations”. The award ceremony took place during the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) 2022 in Granada, Spain, and was followed by a 15-minute prize lecture from each of the winners.

The annual Prize was established in 2010 to honour the memory of the Italian scientist Paolo Farinella (1953-2000). The Prize acknowledges an outstanding researcher not older than 47 years (the age of Farinella when he passed away) who has achieved important results in one of Farinella’s fields of work. Each year the Prize focuses on a different research area and, in 2022, the twelfth edition was devoted to asteroids, which in recent years have become an increasingly important area of interest for the scientific community.

Dr Castillo-Rogez has made significant contributions to our understanding of the physical and chemical evolutions of small and mid-sized Solar System bodies. Through modelling and synthesis of existing data, she has gleaned information about the origins and dynamical evolution of objects from the main belt, between Mars and Jupiter, to the trans-Neptunian region, i.e. the region that extends farther from the Sun than the planet Neptune. Her multi-disciplinary expertise, which embraces geology, geophysics and planetology, has allowed her to apply increasingly sophisticated tools to understand the geochemical evolution of objects potentially characterised by volatile elements. Dr Castillo-Rogez’s contribution was critical to the success of the Dawn mission at the dwarf planet Ceres: before the mission, her studies paved the way to understanding that Ceres likely had a subsurface ocean in its past, and might still harbour brines; after the mission, her analysis of Dawn’s data advanced the hypothesis that mid-sized cold bodies could be past or present ocean worlds.

Dr Jutzi has made outstanding contributions to the study of collisional processes involving bodies ranging from small asteroids to planetary scales. In particular, he developed a state-of-the-art Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamic (SPH) shock physics code specially suited to study the regimes of collisions among small bodies where the complex effects of material strength, friction, porosity as well as gravity determine the outcome concurrently. Dr Jutzi also succeeded in reproducing the evolution of the asteroid Vesta’s observed shape following two overlapping planet-scale collisions, and even provided maps of impact excavation and deposition of ejected materials. Recently, he contributed to the numerical modelling of the impact of NASA’s DART mission on the moon of the binary asteroid Didymos, which showed that the small moon Dimorphos may be entirely reshaped by the impact.

Overall, Dr Castillo-Rogez’s and Dr Jutzi’s work have led to a deeper understanding of the nature and evolution of asteroids, both from a theoretical and an observational point of view. 

Dr Castillo-Rogez received her MS in Geophysics and her PhD in Planetary Geophysics at University of Rennes (France). She is currently Associate Scientist for the Planetary Science Directorate at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (California, USA).

Dr Jutzi received his MS in Physics at University of Bern (Switzerland) and then his PhD in Physics at University of Bern and Nice Observatory (France). He now holds the position of Senior Researcher at University of Bern.

Before receiving the Prize, Dr Castillo-Rogez commented “I am honored to win this prize, especially as there are so many deserving colleagues out there. The bulk of my work is based on the observations returned by the Cassini-Huygens and Dawn mission, both built on highly successful international collaborations. Working with these teams has been an incredible experience and led to long-lasting friendships on both sides of the Atlantic. So this makes receiving this prize at EPSC 2022 very special. Unfortunately, I have never had the privilege to meet Dr. Farinella, although I have many times referred to his work.”

Dr Jutzi said: “I am very honoured to be awarded the Paolo Farinella Prize. For me this is an important recognition of my contribution to the understanding of asteroid physics, in particular the impact processes that determined the evolution and current state of these objects – some of them being explored by ongoing space missions as we speak. I am grateful to my scientific mentors and colleagues who have helped me achieve this.”

 About the Paolo Farinella Prize

The Paolo Farinella Prize (https://www.europlanet.org/paolo-farinella-prize/) was established to honour the memory and the outstanding figure of Paolo Farinella (1953-2000), an extraordinary scientist and person, in recognition of significant contributions given in the fields of interest of Farinella, which span from planetary sciences to space geodesy, fundamental physics, science popularisation, and security in space, weapons control and disarmament. The winner of the prize is selected each year on the basis of his/her overall research results in a chosen field, among candidates with international and interdisciplinary collaborations, not older than 47 years, the age of Farinella when he passed away, at the date of 25 March 2000. The prize was first proposed during the “International Workshop on Paolo Farinella the scientist and the man,” held in Pisa in 2010, supported by the University of Pisa, ISTI/CNR and by IAPS-INAF (Rome).

The first “Paolo Farinella Prize” was awarded in 2011 to William Bottke, for his contribution to the field of “physics and dynamics of small solar system bodies”. In 2012 the Prize went to John Chambers, for his contribution to the field of “formation and early evolution of the solar system”. In 2013, to Patrick Michel, for his work in the field of “collisional processes in the solar system.” In 2014, to David Vokrouhlicky for his contributions to “our understanding of the dynamics and physics of solar system, including how pressure from solar radiation affects the orbits of both asteroids and artificial satellites”, in 2015 to Nicolas Biver for his studies of “the molecular and isotopic composition of cometary volatiles by means of submillimetre and millimetre ground and space observations”, and in 2016 to Kleomenis Tsiganis for “his studies of the applications of celestial mechanics to the dynamics of planetary systems, including the development of the Nice model”. In 2017, to Simone Marchi for his contributions to “understanding the complex problems related to the impact history and physical evolution of the inner Solar System, including the Moon”. In 2018, to Francis Nimmo, for his contributions in our “understanding of the internal structure and evolution of icy bodies in the Solar System and the resulting influence on their surface processes”. In 2019, to Scott Sheppard and Chad Trujillo, for their outstanding collaborative work for the “observational characterisation of the Kuiper belt and the Neptune-trojan population”. In 2020, to Jonathan Fortney and Heather Knutson for their significant contribution in our “understanding of the structure, evolution and atmospheric dynamics of giant planets”. Finally, in 2021, to Diana Valencia and Lena Noack, for their significant contributions in “our understanding of the interior structure and dynamics of terrestrial and super-Earth exoplanets”.

Images

Julie Castillo-Rogez. Credit: J Castillo-Rogez

Martin Jutzi. Credit: M Jutzi

The Farinella Prize winners 2022, Julie Castillo-Rogez of JPL (left) and Martin Jutzi of the University of Bern (right). The prizes were presented by Alessandro Rossi, IFAC-CNR, Italy.

Science Contacts

Julie Castillo-Rogez
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
julie.c.castillo@jpl.nasa.gov

Martin Jutzi
University of Bern
Space Research & Planetary Sciences
+41 31 684 85 49
martin.jutzi@andre-gallispace-unibe-ch

Media Contacts

EPSC2022 Press Office
+44 7756 034243
epsc-press@europlanet-society.org

Notes for Editors

About the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) 

The Europlanet Science Congress (https://www.epsc2022.eu/) formerly the European Planetary Science Congress, is the annual meeting of the Europlanet Society. With a track record of 16 years, and regularly attracting around 1000 participants, EPSC is the largest planetary science meeting in Europe. It covers the entire range of planetary sciences with an extensive mix of talks, workshops and poster sessions, as well as providing a unique space for networking and exchanges of experiences.

Follow on Twitter via @europlanetmedia and using the hashtag #EPSC2022.

About Europlanet

Since 2005, Europlanet (www.europlanet-society.org) has provided Europe’s planetary science community with a platform to exchange ideas and personnel, share research tools, data and facilities, define key science goals for the future, and engage stakeholders, policy makers and European citizens with planetary science. 

The Europlanet 2024 Research Infrastructure (RI) has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 871149 to provide access to state-of-the-art research facilities and a mechanism to coordinate Europe’s planetary science community. 

The Europlanet Society promotes the advancement of European planetary science and related fields for the benefit of the community and is open to individual and organisational members. The Europlanet Society is the parent organisation of the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC).

About EANA

The European Astrobiology Network Association (http://www.eana-net.eu), joins together people interested in the origins of life and the search for extraterrestrial life in the Solar System and beyond. This interdisciplinary domain involves scientists from multiple disciplines such as chemistry, physics, biology, geology, astronomy, and human sciences.  

Europlanet 2024 RI has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 871149.
Europlanet AISBL (Association Internationale Sans But Lucratif – 0800.634.634) is hosted by the Department of Planetary Atmospheres of the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB), Avenue Circulaire 3, B-1180 Brussels, Belgium.