Labex UnivEarthS

The aim of UnivEarthS is to combine the scientific expertise, technical know how, experience in space experiments, and human resources of three research institutes, all international leaders in their disciplinary field, in order to develop original interdisciplinary research projects. Their expertise includes Earth and environmental sciences (IPGP), planetary sciences (IPGP, AIM), high energy astrophysics (AIM, APC), cosmology and fundamental physics (APC).

The project is designed to set up a unique high-level teaching and training platform in the sciences of the Universe, to achieve efficient technology transfer between the partners as well as towards other institutes and industry, and to develop novel outreach initiatives.

The UnivEarthS project revolves around the general theme of “Evolution, Catastrophes and Emergence”: how do natural systems of various scales form and evolve into self-organized dynamic structures, what are the catastrophic events that cause dramatic shifts in evolution, when and how did new processes and mechanisms appear ? Such questions arise when dealing with the primordial Universe, the organization of small to large scale structures in the Universe, violent phenomena associated with stellar explosions and black holes, the development of planetary systems, the differentiation and dynamics of the proto-Earth, the origin and early growth of Life, as well as the study of geological and astronomical catastrophes (volcanic eruptions, planetary-quakes, planetary collisions).