Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life
The Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life at ETH Zurich is an interdisciplinary centre for research and teaching. It addresses the fundamental questions about the prevalence of life in the universe and the processes that led to its emergence.
The centre intends to promote flexible forms of scientific collaboration that transcend existing disciplinary boundaries and exploit opportunities and synergies between disciplines. By bringing together researchers from various disciplines the centre aims to address the following scientific objectives:
- Defining the chemical and physical processes that generate the molecular building blocks for life and drive the transition to emergent biological entities
- Characterising the diversity of planetary environments
- Quantifying the capability of planetary environments to meet, maintain and diversify conditions for complex life and how life shapes planetary environments
- Investigation of non-standard life and life in extreme
International network
The Centre is connected to the Origins Federation consisting of four leading institutions with the goal of facilitating efficient multidisciplinary and innovative collaborative research to advance our understanding of the emergence and early evolution of life and its place in the cosmos.