Emergent insights into the relationships between animals and the bacteria, fungi, and viruses that live inside their gut have revealed that these so-called gut microbiomes are a cradle of symbiotic interactions that are critically important to animal ecology and health, including in humans.

To what extent can the Extremely Large Telescope’s enormous leap in sensitivity and spatial resolution realize an accuracy leap in orbital parameters and physical compositions of critical Near-Earth Objects (NEOs)?

The transition of unicellular to multicellular life occurred along with the first presence of oxygen in the environment, leading to the evolution of aerobic metabolism and multicellularity. How this exactly happened is still unknown.

Living cells started working together over time, probably because it increased their chance of survival. But working together also involves a division of tasks and distribution of food and energy. Ultimately, multicellular life led to increasingly complex life forms. How did the first collaboration of cells work and why did it become a success?

To determine whether an exoplanet holds extraterrestrial life, we can look at its atmosphere. This is done through the light we receive from an exo-planet on Earth. That light contains information about the composition of the atmosphere. But what substances should we be looking for in particular?

We want to know which steps led to the first living primordial cell. There are known inanimate chemical systems that can replicate themselves. This research project investigates which chemical self-replicating systems may have led to cell division in the first living cell.

Sometimes evolutionary development is not slow and gradual, but sudden and revolutionary. An example of this is the transition from cells with a single genome to cells with multiple chromosomes. How do cells maintain stability through such drastic changes?

It is about time that evolutionary biology develops into a predictive science. It would also be interesting if we could steer evolution. Much has already been achieved in the field of short-term predictions, but great challenges force us to look to the long term.

Life probably originated in hot springs, deep in the sea. This experimental simulation can show how inanimate chemistry can change into a first form of biochemistry in a world full of energy around these thermal springs.