Dr Victoria Pearson

Organic molecules are found in many space environments, but what role do inorganic phases play in their formation and evolution? Carbonaceous meteorites contain within them an array of extraterrestrial organic species which are synthesised, in part, in the interstellar medium. Subsequent aqueous and/or thermal processing within the Solar System has influenced their molecular structures. The chemical environment where these changes take place are multi-component systems, yet little work has been undertaken to establish the role of inorganic phases in the synthesis, accumulation or alteration of organic species. This project intends to investigate the relationship between organic and inorganic phases in carbonaceous meteorites through an integrated analytical programme. This project requires an integrated chemical and mineralogical programme. It will involve the use of in-situ characterisation of organic and inorganic phases within meteorites (e.g. FTIR, nanoSIMS, TERS), and the development of extraction techniques (including FIB-SEM) for detailed investigations of extraterrestrial organic species at a molecular level (e.g. TEM, STEM, py-GCxGC-ToFMS, GCMS, XRD).

PSSRI Rolling Grant. A very wide range of projects that span sample analysis and the early solar system, to conditions on Mars, observational astronomy of asteroids, to instrumentation and engineering for future missions.

Astrobiology is an emerging scientific field and is driven by the question ‘are we alone in the Universe?’ With an increasing number of life-detection/habitability missions, astrobiology is at the core of nations’ space strategies. The Open University Astrobiology Unit focuses on understanding how, and where, life might be found, by combining field work, laboratory simulations and mission data. Building on this expertise, Unit members are involved in key astrobiology-related missions and in developing planetary protection regulations. E3 funding will build capacity in line with future missions by furthering our understanding of extraterrestrial environments and potential life, through developing facilities to simulate these environments and investigating analogue sites. This is aimed at understanding if, and where, life may be found beyond the Earth. The Unit will develop its expertise to meet the new challenges that arise as the private sector and smaller nations develop exploration capacity. This includes supporting the sector to meet, and define, planetary protection requirements and to address space governance, for example, ensuring environmental sustainability of missions. The Unit will develop relevant education material for the expanding space sector, and it will work to ensure knowledge and expertise in astrobiology is used in a just and equitable manner. Sustainability of the Unit will be underpinned by commercial services, external funding, and University investment. The Unit will support the growth of astrobiology networks of industry, higher educational institutes and policymakers, and early career researchers, to ensure that the UK is globally recognised and influential within the field.

The Europlanet 2024 Research Infrastructure (RI) provides free access to the world’s largest collection of planetary simulation and analysis facilities, data services and tools, a ground-based observational network and programme of community support activities. The project is funded through the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme and runs for four years from February 2020 until January 2024. The Europlanet 2024 RI consortium is led by the University of Kent, UK, and has 53 beneficiary institutions from 21 countries in Europe and around the world, with a further 44 affiliated partners. The project draws on the resources of the Europlanet Society to disseminate activities and outcomes and develop a more diverse community of users. Europlanet 2024 RI provides: Transnational Access to 24 laboratories in Europe and five field sites. Virtual Access to services and tools. Networking activities to support the community and provide rapid response observations to support planetary missions.

This project seeks to investigate demographic differences in physics degree outcomes, primarily through the analysis of a large national data-set, and to suggest factors that might lead to a more equitable situation. The discrepancies mean that not only are certain groups of students, e.g. those of particular gender, socio-economic group or ethnicity or with a disability, considerably less likely to study the subject at higher education level, but also that those who do study have lower levels of retention in completing and passing their studies. This contributes to the “leaky pipeline” whereby the percentage of students and workers in particular demographic groups declines further and further. Various factors have been hypothesised as contributing to these discrepancies, and there is considerable variation between different higher education providers.

STFC Planetary Science Consolidated grant - details to be entered here.

SterLim: Sterilisation limits for sample return planetary protection measures

The proportion of students with disabilities registered on undergraduate STEM programmes has increased significantly over the past decade. Embedding and sustaining inclusive STEM practices project addresses how inclusive processes and academic practices become embedded within institutions, to enable equality of opportunity for students with disabilities studying STEM disciplines.

STFC Open 2018 DTP

STFC DTG Quota 2015-16 AMS record for students starting on or after 01/10/2015

The aim of this proposal is it determine the feasibility of contemporary life existing elsewhere in the Solar System. To address this aim we will 1) investigate microbial processes that could occur in proposed transient water on the surface of Mars and in the sub-surface oceans of Enceladus and Europa and 2) assess how the geochemistry within these habitable environments would differ over geological timescales in the presence and absence of life. We will use a unique approach, which combines simulation experiments with geochemical modelling.

The aim of our programme in Astronomy & Planetary Science at the Open University (APSOU) is to carryout detailed investigations of the origin and evolution of galaxies, stars and planets with a special emphasis on our own Solar System through a combination of observation, simulation, laboratory analysis and theoretical modelling. Our research is divided into two broad areas, reflecting the historical research strengths. This research programme is well-matched to both nationally- and internationally-agreed research imperatives. In its final report, A Science Vision for European Astronomy2, Astronet’s Science Working Group identified four broad areas of strategic importance; our research covers major topics within each of these areas. APSOU projects also map onto two of the four Science Challenges that form STFC’s Road Map3 for science (‘How did the universe begin and how is it evolving?’ and ‘How do stars and planetary systems develop and is life unique to our planet?’). The present APSOU programme comprises 20 projects (labelled A to T), of which 6 are for consideration by the Astronomy Observation (AO) panel, 1 for Astronomy Theory (AT), and 13 for the Planetary Studies (PL) panel. The AO projects cover the breadth of the 7 themes recognised as UK strengths in the report of STFC’s Astronomy Advisory Panel (AAP), whilst the 13 PL projects are directed towards answering questions raised in two of the three themes identified as UK strengths in the roadmap of STFC’s Solar System Advisory Panel (SSAP)4.

In March 2015, RCUK extended the funding to projects participating in the School-University Partnerships Initiative by one year. The purpose of the 12-month extension (Jan-Dec 2016) is to enable our partnership with the Denbigh Teaching School Alliance to develop a particular emphasis on embedding and sustainability in the final phase of the Initiative.