EPEC Annual Week 2026

The EPEC Committee and EPEC Annual Week Local Organising Committee (LOC) are pleased to announce that the 8th edition of Annual Week will be held at the Laboratoire De Planétologie Et Géosciences (LPG), Nantes, France from 25 – 29 May 2026.

The EPEC Annual Week is an opportunity for the EPEC community to better get to know each other, to strengthen their connections with the international science community in a conference exclusively catered to early careers. The programme for EPEC Annual Week 2026 (EPEC AW26) consists of science talks, invited speakers and a chance for our members to present their work in a low-stakes setting to build their confidence and scientific communication skills. Furthermore, the school brings together scientists from different career stages to provide a networking platform where science discussion and collaboration are stimulated via a series of group activities.

Participants must be enrolled in a B.Sc., M.Sc., or Ph.D. programme (or equivalent) in the field of planetary/space science, or have obtained their degree within the past seven years. Note that in order to apply to the training school you are NOT required to be a member of EPEC, although this is encouraged.

Attendance at the workshop is subject to a selection process. Successful candidates will be notified via email within a week of the registration deadline. Registration opens – 16th March 2026. Please note that the application deadline is 17th April, 2026. In case of any queries or problems related to the application, please send an email to epec.network@gmail.com.

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Programme
Registration form
Code of Conduct
Accommodation
Venue
Social Event
Organization team

Programme for EPEC AW26

Talks and workshops – With this year’s programme, we cover a wide variety of scientific and industrial topics from experts who have worked on missions like BepiColombo.

Featuring talks from the following topics:

  • Instrumentation on planetary missions.
  • Machine learning
  • Space Debris
  • Scientific communication
  • Astrobiology
  • Icy bodies

Complete programme of the event will be published soon.

Code of Conduct and Privacy Policy

EPEC AW26 is committed to providing a safe, welcoming and inclusive experience for all participants and abides by Europlanet’s diversity commitment.

All participants (defined here as organisers, speakers, poster presenters, session leads, volunteers, sponsors, staff and other attendees) are expected to abide by the EPEC AW26 code of conduct. If you have experienced or have witnessed behaviour which is contrary to the EPEC AW26 code of conduct at EPEC AW26 or via the online meeting, please submit a report through the online form.

Code of Conduct for EPEC AW26

All personal data for EPEC AW26 is processed in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR) and the Europlanet Privacy Policy.

Accomodation

Accommodation, sponsored by Europlanet, will be provided for participants attending from outside of Nantes for the complete duration of EPEC AW26. Participants will be provided a shared room in a hotel chosen by the organising team.

Venue

The Venue for most of the event will be –

Nantes Université, Chem. de la Houssinière 2, 44322 Nantes.

It is located in the northern part of Nantes and is well connected via different local transports. The nearest tram and bus stop is called Morrhonnière-Petit Port which is around 5 mins of walk from the venue.

Nantes

Being one of the main north-western metropolitan cities of France, Nantes has a huge variety of things to offer. From its incredible food scene to its historical spots, Nantes has a lot of possibilities which can be explored at any time of the day.

Reaching Nantes

  • By Plane – The airport in Nantes is called the Aéroport Nantes Atlantique which is quite conveniently connected via buses to the city center. 
  • By train and bus – The main train and bus connections to get to Nantes are in Paris which is a major hub for transport all over Europe. 
Public Transport
  • The public transport system in Nantes is very convenient and easy to operate. There is a centralized ticketing system which is used for all the local transports – Trams, Buses and Ferries. You can buy the tickets online using the Naolib app or on tram stations (You need to validate the ticket if it’s either digital or physical).
  • The timetable can be found on the Naolib app or google maps.
  • Visit the website here for information about tourist attractions – https://www.levoyageanantes.fr/en/ 

Social Dinner

The social dinner – sponsored by Europlanet, will be organised on Wednesday, 27th May 2026 for the participants attending EPEC AW26.

There will be options for anybody with dietary requirements, please indicate this in the registration form.

Organizing Team

  • Gabriel Maynard Hernández, TU Graz
  • Raquel Reyes Galindo, Freie Universität Berlin
  • Larissa Hallebach, TU Braunschweig
  • Keval Dabhi, Freie Universität Berlin
  • Eesha Kabra, Geoplanet
  • Noémie Carlot, IRSPS Pescara, Italy – LPG Nantes, France
  • Anastasiia Shvetsova, LPG Nantes
  • Nimisha Verma, DLR (EPEC Co-Chair)

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.