Habitability in a Galactic Environment

The discovery of thousands of widely diverse planetary systems orbiting nearby stars raises challenging questions about life in the Universe.
What regions of the Milky Way galaxy are most habitable for complex life? How susceptible is surface dwelling life to lethal radiation from astrophysical sources?
Habitability in a Galactic Environment focuses on research to quantify and understand the Galactic Habitable Zone.
Grant Funding:
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CPSH – 2020 Seed Grant
Development of a fully integrated opts-thermo-fluidic system for in situ detection of trace chiral prebiotic molecules on icy bodies
Yuebing Zheng (UT Austin)

CPSH – 2021 Seed Grant
Intramolecular carbon isotope distribution as a fingerprint illuminating the origin of organic molecules
David Hoffman (UT Austin)
Cornelia Rasmussen (UT Austin)