LCLU Coffee Meetings


2022-02-03 11:00: Aerial Biospheres (Sean Jordan (IoA))

2022-02-17 11:00: Phosphorus mineral evolution and prebiotic chemistry (Craig Walton (Department of Earth Sciences))

2022-03-03 11:00: Phosphorus mineral evolution and prebiotic chemistry (part 2) (Craig Walton (Department of Earth Sciences))

2022-03-17 11:00: Coffee (Speaker to be confirmed)

2022-04-07 11:00: Galactic cosmic ray environment for young stars and planets (Donna Rodgers-Lee (Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies))

2022-04-21 11:00: Do anthropic arguments really work? (Speaker to be confirmed)

2022-05-05 11:00: Arts and humanities and life in the universe (Dr Andrew Davison (Faculty of Divinity))

2022-05-19 11:00: Protocells - between chemistry and biology (Filip Boskovic (Cavendish Laboratory))

2022-05-31 11:00: Atmospheric-interior connection of super-earths and sub-neptunes (Hilke Schlichting (UCLA))

2022-07-21 11:00: Coffee in Battcock F17 - Lightning Shocks and Prebiotic Chemistry (Patrick Barth (St Andrews))

2022-08-04 11:00: Coffee in Battcock F17 - Quantum Chemistry (Alex Thom (Cambridge))

2022-09-01 11:00: Coffee in Godwin Room - Synthetic Biology (Camillo Moschner (Cambridge))

2022-09-15 11:00: Coffee in Cavendish: HCN -- Why do we care, and how can we make it? (Paul B Rimmer)

2022-09-29 11:00: Coffee in Godwin: Natural Selection and Purpose (Seth Hart (University of Durham))

2022-10-13 11:00: Coffee in Cavendish: Are we alone in the universe? (Probably) (Simon Conway Morris (Cambridge))

2022-10-27 11:00: Coffee in Godwin (Andrew Buchan (IoA))

2022-11-10 11:00: Coffee in Godwin: Sulfur Redux (Paul Rimmer (Cambridge))

2022-11-24 11:00: Coffee in Battcock F17 - Bottom-Up Synthetic Biology (Béla Frohn (Max Planck))

2022-12-08 11:00: Coffee in Battcock F17 - Life, the Universe, and Science Fiction: Utopia and the Technological Imagination (Caroline Bassett (Cambridge))

2023-01-19 11:00: Cyrille Jeancolas - Philosophy of Origins and Astrobiology (Cyrille Jeancolas, University of Durham)

2023-02-02 11:00: Jonathan Jiang on Climate and Exoplanets (Jonathan Jiang, NASA JPL)

2023-02-09 15:00: LCLU Afternoon Tea with Corinna Kufner (Corinna Kufner (Harvard))

2023-02-16 11:00: Callum Fairbairn & Nathan Magnan - Streaming Instabilities and Planet Formation (Callum Fairbairn & Nathan Magnan, DAMTP, Cambridge)

2023-03-02 11:00: Furkan Ozturk - Magnetic Fields and Solving the Chirality Problem (Furkan Ozturk - Harvard)

2023-03-16 11:00: Casey Platnich - DNA and Data Storage (Casey Platnich - Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge)

2023-03-30 11:00: Christopher Shingledecker - The Fate of Sulfur in the Interstellar Medium (Christopher Shingledecker, Benedictine College)

2023-04-06 15:00: Eran Tal - Measurement in Science (Afternoon Tea) (Eran Tal (McGill University))

2023-04-13 11:00: Introductions (Everyone!)

2023-04-27 11:00: Abhishek Upadhyay - Signatures (4 'R's) of biological life: Reproduction, Replication, Respiration & Rhythms (Abhishek Upadhyay - Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge)

2023-05-11 11:00: LCLU Discussion with Dieter Braun: Godwin Room, Clare College (Dieter Braun (LMU, Munich))

2023-05-25 11:00: Philipp Spillmann - Anomalies and Life in the Universe (Philipp Spillmann - Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge)

2023-06-08 11:00: Annelies Mortier - Extrasolar Planets and their Stars (Annelies Mortier (Birmingham))

2023-07-06 11:00: Marrick Braam - The Space of Chemical Complexity in Exoplanet Atmospheres (Marrick Braam (Edinburgh))

2023-07-20 15:00: (Afternoon Tea) Sy Garte - Accurate Self Replication and Life (Sy Garte (Rutgers))

2023-08-10 11:00: How to Build a Planet - Ingredients -- with Martin Suttle (Martin Suttle (Open University))

2023-08-17 11:00: LCLU Coffee - How to Build a Planet (Anders Johansen (Lund))

2023-08-24 11:00: LCLU Coffee: The Puzzle of Planet Formation (Joanna Drazkowska, MPS Göttingen)

2023-08-31 11:00: LCLU Coffee Summeries (Summer Interns)

2023-09-14 11:00: LCLU Coffee (N/A)

2023-09-28 11:00: Paul B Rimmer on Prebiotic Fitness Landscapes (Paul B Rimmer (Cambridge Physics))

2023-10-12 11:00: Skyla White on Exploring the Kinetics of Prebiotic Reaction Networks (Skyla White (Cambridge Physics))

2023-10-19 11:00: Alejandro Paredes on Numerical modeling of radiation-induced reactions (Alejandro Paredes (UNAM, Earth Science))

2023-10-26 11:00: Dimitar Sasselov on The Central Dogma of Biological Homochirality  (Dimitar Sasselov (Harvard Astronomy))

2023-11-09 11:00: Sam Roberts on Prebiotic Chemistry (Sam Roberts (MRC-LMB))

2023-11-16 11:00: LCLU Coffee - Lloyd Demetrius on "The Origin of Cooperation" (Lloyd Demetrius (Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard))

2023-11-23 11:00: Stephane Mazevet on Methanogenesis in Enceladus (Stephane Mazevet (Nice, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur))

2023-12-07 11:00: Liton Majumdar on the Link Between Planet Formation and Atmospheres (Liton Majumdar (NISER, Exoplanets and Planetary Formation Group))

2024-01-18 11:00: Tereza Constantinou on the Link Between Geochemistry and Atmospheres (Tereza Constantinou (Cambridge IoA))

2024-01-25 11:00: Barbara Sherwood Lollar on the Hidden Biogeosphere (Barbara Sherwood Lollar (University of Toronto Earth Sciences))

2024-02-01 11:00: Richard Anslow on Impacts and Prebiotic Chemistry (Richard Anslow (Cambridge IoA))

2024-02-15 11:00: David Baum on "On Autocatalytic Chemical Ecosystems and the Origins of Evolution" (David Baum (University of Wisconsin-Madison, Botany))

2024-02-29 11:00: CANCELLED: Rafal Szabla on Quantum Chemical Perspective on the Prebiotic Origins of RNA and DNA (Rafal Szabla (Wroclaw Tech, Chemistry))

2024-03-14 11:00: Andrew Robinson on "Vital Signs: What has Semiotics to do with the Origins of Life?" (Andrew Robinson (Exeter Theology))

2024-03-28 11:00: LCLU Coffee (N/A)

2024-04-11 11:00: Sean Jordan on Venus and Exo-Venus (Sean Jordan (Cambridge IoA))

2024-04-25 11:00: Jules Macome on Philosophy of Origins of Life Research (Jules Macome (Cambridge History and Philosophy of Science))

2024-05-09 11:00: Chris Oldfield: What counts as a life in the science of life? (Chris Oldfield (Cambridge Philosophy))

2024-05-16 11:00: Nidhi Rohit Bangera on ''Production of false-positive Biosignatures on Hot Gas Giants'' (Nidhi Rohit Bangera - OeAW (Austrian Academy of Sciences))

2024-05-23 11:00: Ben Tutolo on Mars Geochemistry (Ben Tutolo (Department of Earth, Energy, and Environment; University of Calgary))

2024-06-06 11:00: Siyi Xu on the Composition of Exoplanets (Siyi Xu (Gemini Observatory, MIT))

2024-06-13 11:00: Mohammad Farhat on the Earth and the Moon (Mohammad Farhat (Paris Observatory))

2024-06-20 11:00: Craig Walton on "Teach a man to fish" (Craig Walton (ETH Zurich))

2024-06-27 11:00: Robin Wordsworth on "‘Life beyond planetary gravity wells" (Robin Wordsworth (Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard))

2024-07-11 11:00: Zoe Todd on Prebiotic Chemistry in a Planetary Context (Zoe Todd (Chemistry & Astronomy, University of Wisconsin))

2024-09-05 11:00: Laurent Wiesenfeld: "The coming of age of Astrochemistry" (Laurent Wiesenfeld (Lab. Aimé-Cotton CNRS & Université Paris-Saclay))

2024-09-19 11:00: Jonah Peter: Building the Molecules of Life on Ocean Worlds (Jonah Peter (Harvard Biophysics))

2024-10-09 11:00: Manuel Scherf on "The evolution and prevalence of Earth-like Habitats in the Galaxy" (Manuel Scherf (Austrian Academy of Sciences))

2024-10-10 16:00: Gregory & Virginia Chaitin: "Von Neumann on biology and life as evolving software?" (Gregory & Virginia Chaitin)

2024-10-24 11:00: Euan Furness on "Drivers of the Shuram isotope excursion: biology, geology, and chemistry at the origin of animal life." (Euan Furness (Cambridge Zoology))

2024-11-07 11:00: Margarida Hermida, Topic TBA (Margarida Hermida (Kings College London, Philosophy))

2024-11-21 11:00:  Pavan Tanna on "Moon-Forming Impacts" ( Pavan Tanna (Cambridge, IoA))

2024-11-28 11:00: Felix Sainsbury-Martinez on Cometary Impacts on Exoplanets (Felix Sainsbury-Martinez (Leeds Astrophysics))

2024-12-05 11:00: LCLU Christmas Coffee (None)

2025-01-16 11:00: Sai Shruthi Murali on Prebiotic Chemical Kinetics (Sai Shruthi Murali (Cambridge Physics))

2025-01-30 11:00: Zoë Lehmann Imfeld: Talking About Mars and Beyond: Narrative Strategies in Science Writing (Zoë Lehmann Imfeld (Universität Bern, English))

2025-02-13 11:00: Greg Cooke on 3D Rocky Exoplanet Atmospheres (Greg Cooke (Cambridge IoA))

2025-02-20 11:00: Marc Laflamme on "Ediacaran Endgame: The Rise of Complex Life" (Marc Laflamme (Earth Science, University of Toronto Mississauga))

2025-02-27 11:00: Luis Ohlendorf: Requirements for self-sustained ribozyme evolution (Luis Ohlendorf (UCL, Chemistry))

2025-03-06 11:00: Environmental and ecological drivers of early animal evolution (Ilya Bobrovskiy (Organic Geochemistry, Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences))

2025-03-13 11:00: Fred Simmons: "Abiogenetic Bias, Axiology, and Teleology." (Fred Simmons (Cambridge Divinity))

2025-03-19 15:00: Jack Szostak: Primordial Genetic Alphabet? (Jack Szostak (Chemistry, University of Chicago))

2025-03-27 11:00: LCLU Coffee - CANCELLED (None)

2025-04-03 11:00: Catriona McDonald - The Comet’s Tale: A game of chance. (Catriona McDonald (Cambridge IoA))

2025-04-10 11:00: Rick Anslow & Tereza Constantinou on Icy Moons (Rick Anslow & Tereza Constantinou (Cambridge IoA))

2025-04-24 11:00: Clancy Jiang on the Mn Cycle (Clancy Jiang (Cambridge Earth Science))

2025-05-06 11:00: Steven Benner: How life could not NOT originate on rocky planets, Earth, Mars, and 100 billion others in the Milky Way Galaxy (Steven Benner (FfAME Distinguished Fellow))

2025-05-08 11:00:  Nicole Shibley on Ice-Ocean Interactions in the Solar System ( Nicole Shibley (Cambridge, DAMTP))

2025-05-15 11:00: LCLU Coffee - Ligia F Coelho on "the changing colours of our planet as a tool for ilfe detection on icy moons and exoplanets" (Ligia F Coelho (Cornell Astronomy))

2025-05-22 11:00: David Russell on Compartmentalization at Life's Origins (David Russell (Cambridge Biochemistry))

2025-05-29 11:00: Jules Macome: Against Epistemic Pessimism in Origins of Life Research (Jules Macome (Cambridge History and Philosophy of Science))

2025-10-02 11:00: Doug Lin on "Origin of freely floating planets, interstellar asteroids and comets" (Doug Lin )

2025-10-15 11:00: Surprise LCLU Coffee Discussion! "Through the looking glass: the ban on mirror life research" (Kira Podolsky (Chemistry & Biology, MIT))

2025-10-16 11:00: Sarah Rugheimer on Biosignatures (Sarah Rugheimer (Edinburgh Observatory))

2025-10-23 11:00: Perig Pitrou on "How can Anthropology contribute to an interdisciplinary definition of Life in the field of Astrobiology?" (Perig Pitrou (anthropologist, CNRS senior researcher, Maison Française d’Oxford))

2025-10-30 11:00: Intro LCLU Coffee (All of you!)

2025-11-06 11:00: Amy Bonsor & Richard Anslow on "Exoplanet Composition" (Amy Bonsor (IoA, Cambridge) and Richard Anslow (IoA, Cambridge))

2025-11-13 11:00: Paul B Rimmer on Prebiotic Plausibility (Paul B Rimmer (Cavendish, Cambridge))

2025-11-20 11:00: Nick Tosca on "Sulfur on Early Earth after a Giant Impact" (Nick Tosca (Cambridge Earth Science))

2025-11-26 16:00: Surprise LCLU Coffee Discussion! Eliel Anttila on "Volcanigenic mineral-associated organic carbon preservation in marginal marine sediments" (Eliel Anttila (ETH Geology))

2025-11-27 11:00: Clàudia Jano-Munoz, topic TBA (Clàudia Jano-Munoz (Astrophysics, Cambridge))

2025-12-11 11:00: Paula Jofre - " The chemical abundances in stellar atmospheres as fossil records of the Universe." (Paula Jofre (UDP Chile))

2026-01-08 11:00: Shoaib Malik on "Islamic Perspectives on Exotheology" (Shoaib Malik (Science and Religion, University of Edinburgh))

2026-01-15 11:00: Edouard Barrier on Origins of Life on Deep Ocean Worlds (Edouard Barrier (IoA, Cambridge))

2026-01-22 11:00: Yarong Liu on "Crawling into the Future: How early animal movement disturbed the seafloor and reshaped marine ecosystems" (Yarong Liu (Cambridge Zoology))

2026-01-29 11:00: Gabriel Giger on Endosymbiosis (Gabriel Giger (Institute of Microbiology, ETH Zurich))

2026-02-05 11:00: Skyla White on SOUP (Skyla White (Cavendish, Cambridge))

2026-02-19 11:00: CANCELLED: Greg Fournier on Genetic Clocks (Greg Fournier (EAPS, MIT))

2026-02-26 16:00: Eric Smith, topic TBA (D. Eric Smith (Physics, Sante Fe Institute))

2026-03-05 11:00: Greg Cooke on "Ecological modelling of hycean worlds" (Greg Cooke (Cambridge IoA))

2026-03-12 16:00: Chance, Necessity, and Cause surrounding the Origin, Evolution, and Nature of Life (Eric Smith (Santa Fe Institute))

2026-03-19 11:00: Thanja Lamberts on Astrochemistry (Thanja Lamberts (Astrochemistry, Leiden Observatory))

2026-04-02 11:00: Uri Ryb on Late oxygenation of marine environments revealed by dolomite U-Pb dating (Uri Ryb (Geochemistry, Hebrew University))

2026-04-16 11:00: James Rogers, Topic TBA (James Rogers (Kavli Senior Fellow in Exoplanets, IoA, Cambridge))

2026-04-30 11:00: Alicia Anderson discussing some exciting news about HARPS3 (Alicia Anderson (Cavendish, University of Cambridge))

2026-05-14 11:00: Sheref Mansy, topic TBA (Sheref Mansy (Biochemistry, Trento))

2026-10-22 11:00: Christopher Cowie on the epistemology of assessing biosignature claims (Christopher Cowie (Philosophy, Durham))