Exoplanets by the Lake Summer School
Exoplanets by the Lake offers an immersive week of learning and exchange around a different frontier in exoplanet science each year.
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About
Established by our co-director - Prof. Dr. Kevin Heng, the Exoplanets by the lake Summer School is an annual international summer school that explores a new focus topic in exoplanet science in an immersive and interactive setting.
Setup: The distinctive features of the summer school include in-person interactions at an attractive, self-contained venue with a small number of about 20 participants. The number of participants is kept small in order to encourage unrestricted, interactive discussions among exoplanet scientists of all sub-disciplines and seniority.
Format: The event is normally held for 5.5 days (5 nights). The first 3 weekdays involve pedagogical lectures during the day. The last 2 days feature a mini-conference format, where a small number of invited experts share their views and interact with the participants. Participants also have the chance to present short talks.
Target Group: The intended audience of this summer school ranges from master students to early career researchers, postdocs and staff scientists. Both experts and curious newcomers to the topic are welcome to attend. Senior scientists who are intending to switch research directions and/or attending as active listeners are also welcome.
Past Summer Schools
- 31. Jul - 04. Aug 2023: The inaugural edition of the meeting was held at Lake Starnberg with a focus on high-resolution spectroscopy of exoplanet atmospheres. Matteo Brogi and Jens Hoeijmakers were the invited summer school lecturers. Lisa Nortmann, Enric Palle and Ulrike Heiter were the invited workshop speakers.
- 21. - 26. Jul 2024: Edition II was held at Lake Ammer (Ammersee) with a focus on geoastronomy: the application and generalization of the geosciences towards studying exoplanets. Steve Mojzsis and Fabrice Gaillard were the invited lecturers. The last two days comprised of a scientific workshop featuring four speakers.
- 27. Jul - 01. Aug 2025: Edition III was held again at Lake Ammer (Ammersee) with a focus on the JWST atmospheric spectroscopy of exoplanets. Néstor Espinoza and Luis Welbanks were the invited lecturers. Sara Seager and Jean-Michel Désert were the invited expert speakers.
- 19. Jul - 24. July 2026: Edition IV was held at Lake Ammer (Ammersee) with a focus on Geoastronomy and the Origins of Life. Oliver Shorttle and Paul Rimmer were the invited lecturers. Steve Mojzsis, Hugh O'Neill and Corinna Kufner were the invited expert speakers.
Upcoming Summer School
The next Exoplanets by the Lake will take place in 2027 at Herrsching am Ammersee (50 minutes from Munich) in Bavaria, Germany. It will be hosted and supported by the Munich Center for Geoastronomy. More details and announcements to follow on our website.
Exoplanets by the Lake event venue, Herrsching am Ammersee
© Kevin Heng
