Centre for Planetary Habitability

02/09/2026

PHAB research on super volcanoes brought to attention by the BBC and the British Geological Survey!

Research led by the British Geological Survey with contributions from the University of Oslo, including Professor Trond H. Torsvik from PHAB, has attracted international media attention following the discovery of evidence for a 454-million-year-old “supervolcano” buried beneath eastern England.

Research led by the British Geological Survey with contributions from the University of Oslo, including Professor Trond H. Torsvik from PHAB, has attracted international media attention following the discovery of evidence for a 454-million-year-old “supervolcano” buried beneath eastern England.

02/09/2026

Our next Kepler seminar will be on Thursday, September 17 in the University Science Library! Come join us to listen to professor Andrew Roberts from the Australian National University.

The title of this Kepler lecture is "Can the fossilized remains of magnetic bacteria be used to build a new fossil record of life on Earth?"

Read the abstract and more about the event here:

By professor Andrew P. Roberts, Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University.

14/08/2026

PHAB congratulates our PI, Lee Hsiang Liow, for becoming a GSA fellow!

Professor Lee Hsiang Liow , a PI on Life at PHAB, has been elected as a fellow of the Geological Society of America (GSA)

06/08/2026

At the end of July, the PHAB research centre at the University of Oslo hosted the PLATO consortium during PLATO Week #18. This is a scientific and coordinating meeting for members of the consortium behind ESA’s PLATO mission. They discussed key scientific and technological aspects of the launch of the new space telescope from the European Space Agency (ESA) – PLATO (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars). The launch is scheduled for March 2027.

In 2027, ESA will launch the space telescope PLATO, with Norway contributing both technology and research efforts. At the end of July, the PHAB research centre at the University of Oslo hosted the PLATO consortium during PLATO Week #18.

22/07/2026

No plans for next week? Come join us at the PLATO Week #18 public evening event on Thursday July 30, at Domus Bibliotheca in Oslo city center. We will be discussing the new PLATO telescope, which will be looking for exoplanets in other solar systems.

Join us at Domus Bibliotheca for the public evening event of PLATO Week #18

20/07/2026

PLATO Week #18 – Evening event for all space enthusiasts 🚀

On Thursday 30 July, the Centre for Planetary Habitability (PHAB), a Centre of Excellence at the University of Oslo, invites you to an open evening event at Domus Bibliotheca in Oslo (Karl Johans gate 47).

Are you interested in space science and exoplanet research? Then you are welcome to join us for an evening with exciting talks and presentations about space, exoplanets, and the upcoming space telescope PLATO, given by:
- Prof. Heike Rauer (PI of the PLATO mission)
- Dr. Maximilian Günther (ESA Project Scientist for the PLATO mission)
- Prof. Stephanie C. Werner (Head of the PHAB centre at UiO)

The event is open to anyone curious about space and the planets that exist beyond our own Solar System. All talks will be given in English. – We warmly welcome everyone interested! 🌌

Read more about the event here: https://www.mn.uio.no/geo/om/aktuelt/arrangementer/2026/platoweek-18-oslo-public-evening-event.html

03/07/2026

Postdoctor at PHAB, Elena Mamonova was recently interviewed in UiO's science magazine, Titan.uio.no about red dwarfs and exoplanets. Check it out:

Røde dvergstjerner preges av voldsomme energiutbrudd. Det trenger ikke nødvendigvis ødelegge muligheten for liv på planeter rundt stjernen.

12/06/2026

The Royal Astronomical Society awards postdoctoral fellow at PHAB, Hannah Sanderson, the RAS 2025 Keith Runcorn Thesis Prize for Best Thesis in Geophysics and Planetary Science. Read more about Hannah's thesis on our webpage:

The Royal Astronomical Society in the United Kingdom awards the 2025 Keith Runcorn Thesis Prize for the Best Thesis in Geophysics and Planetary Science to Hannah Sanderson, postdoctoral fellow at PHAB.

15/04/2026

On May 12, dr. Ravit Helled will give a talk at the Kepler seminar. She will present a proposal for a new evolutionary pathway for the formation history of giant planets.

By Dr. Ravit Helled, Professor and Director of UZH Space and the Department of Astrophysics, University of Zurich.

09/04/2026

PHAB colleague Vincent Kofman explains how the new portrait of the Earth "Hello, World" taken on April 2, by the Artemis II crew, can be interpreted.

Her er hva vi kan se på det nye portrettet av jordkloden, tatt på Artemis II-ferden.