Planetary Sciences and Life in the Universe#
Welcome to the Planetary Sciences and Life in the Universe MPhil lectures page. This is a one year MPhil running at the University of Cambridge, jointly between five main departments, the Institute of Astronomy, The Department of Earth Sciences, The Department of Chemistry, The Department of Zoology, and The Department of Physics. For details on application and admission to the course, please visit the course homepage.
This course provides training in the frontier research area of understanding life’s origins on Earth and the search for its presence elsewhere in the galaxy. It is highly multi-disciplinary, drawing on expertise from astrophysics, biology, chemistry, and the Earth, planetary, and environmental sciences. This set of lectures takes us on a journey from the origins of the universe, through the assembly of planets, onto the establishment of habitable climates and the eventual emergence of biospheres.
Course Overview 🧭
A story of origins.
Planets (C1) 🪐
How the universe made planets.
Environments (C2) 🌦
How habitable environments emerged.
Origin and detection of life (C3) 🧬
Life’s origins and impact on planets.
Biospheres (C4) 🦕
Lessons from life.