What is the Origins Center
The Origins Center is a Dutch initiative that aims to bring together a broad range of scientific disciplines to address one of the biggest challenges in science: the origin, or origins, of life on earth and in the universe. Its aim is to spark and facilitate transdisciplinary research between scientists associated with Dutch universities and research institutes that addresses the following five gamechangers:
News & events
- Schloss Mickeln, Düsseldorf, October 22nd to 24th 2018: Interdisciplinary Origin of Life (IOoL) Meeting for PhD students and postdocs Selected attendees will give a 15 minute talk on their researchRead more
Seminar by Nobuto Takeuchi, 13 July 2018
Nobuto Takeuchi (University of Tokyo, Japan) The origin of the central dogma through conflicting multilevel evolution Seminar Theoretical Biology and Bioinformatics Group, Utrecht University 13 July 2018, 14.00, room Z409,Read more
Disciplines represented in the Origins Center include astronomy, biophysics, chemistry, ecology and evolution, mathematics and computational science, molecular biosciences, and planetary and geosciences.
History of the Origins Center
The Origins Center sprang from the Dutch National Science Agenda. This agenda came about after a nation-wide consultation, in 2016, of the general public regarding the problems scientists should focus on. The response was distilled down to 25 key topics. The question of the origin, or origins, of life on earth and in the universe emerged as one of the most fundamental of these. In 2016 and 2017, a number of workshops were organized bringing together scientists from a diverse spectrum of background to elaborate this topic. The momentum and enthusiasm that arose in the process culminated in founding the Origins Center.