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Western partners up to ask: 'Are we alone?'
Are we alone? That is the main question that incoming researchers will be asking as participants of the newly created Canadian Astrobiology Training Program (CATP). In this case it truly is rocket science. Funded by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), CATP is Canada's first cross-disciplinary, multi-institutional undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral training program in astrobiology – the study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. The program is a partnership between McGill University, UWO, McMaster University, the University of Toronto, and the University of Winnipeg, and is actively recruiting to fill 70 post doctoral, graduate and undergraduate student positions over the next six years. "Successful candidates will be exposed to innovative research and training approaches, combining fieldwork at unique Canadian analogue sites with laboratory work at cutting edge analytical facilities at government and industry partners, including NASA, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), MDA Space Missions and MPB Communications," said a University of Western Ontario media release. CATP-trained astrobiologists will be at the forefront of the search for life beyond the Earth, which will lead to countless new scientific opportunities with the ultimate goal of having Canadian scientists actively participating in future space missions, including the proposed Mars sample return mission in 2018. "With the constant stream of data arriving daily from the surface of Mars, the fundamental question of humanity has never been so significant," said CATP Principal Investigator Lyle Whyte, Canada Research Chair in Environmental Microbiology and an associate professor of Natural Resource Sciences at McGill. "What makes it so compelling is the recent realization that microbial life is extremely hardy and can survive and even thrive in very harsh environments previously thought uninhabitable on Earth like acidic streams, alkaline ponds, salt lakes and hot springs," said Neil Banerjee, an assistant professor of Earth Sciences at Western and CATP co-investigator. For more information on the program or to apply, please visit online (see link). WEB: CATP |
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