Wisconsin Center for Origins Research
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wicor.bsky.social
Wisconsin Center for Origins Research
@wicor.bsky.social
Mission: Advance our understanding of the origins of life in the Universe through interdisciplinary research and education.
https://wicor.wisc.edu/

📸: Night sky above the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT), July 2017, Photo Jeff Miller/UW-Madison
🚨 Applications for the WiCOR #postdoctoral fellowship are due this Saturday, Nov 15!

🔭🧪
WiCOR seeks a #postdoctoral fellow to participate in Center #research in any discipline related to our two main research questions:
1. How do habitable planets form? 🪐
2. How does life emerge on habitable planets? 🧬

Full information at: wicor.wisc.edu/postdoc/

Apply by Nov 15

🔭 🧪
#postdoc #hiring
November 10, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Reposted by Wisconsin Center for Origins Research
Interested in coming to UW-Madison and working with WiCOR on questions related to the origin of life? Apply for this new postdoctoral fellowship opportunity. Applications due November 15th!
WiCOR seeks a #postdoctoral fellow to participate in Center #research in any discipline related to our two main research questions:
1. How do habitable planets form? 🪐
2. How does life emerge on habitable planets? 🧬

Full information at: wicor.wisc.edu/postdoc/

Apply by Nov 15

🔭 🧪
#postdoc #hiring
October 30, 2025 at 11:56 AM
WiCOR seeks a #postdoctoral fellow to participate in Center #research in any discipline related to our two main research questions:
1. How do habitable planets form? 🪐
2. How does life emerge on habitable planets? 🧬

Full information at: wicor.wisc.edu/postdoc/

Apply by Nov 15

🔭 🧪
#postdoc #hiring
October 27, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Support #WiCOR during this “Flocktober”! 🦩

Look for WiCOR in the full list of funds at uwflamingos.com
or visit our Give webpage wicor.wisc.edu/give/

#fillthehill #uwmadison @uwmadisonls.bsky.social
October 10, 2025 at 5:18 PM
👏Congratulations to #WiCORMember Ángel F. Adames Corraliza for receiving a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship!
Congratulations to Ángel F. Adames Corraliza, the Ned P. Smith Distinguished Chair of Climatology in @uwmad-aos.bsky.social for being awarded a 2025 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship--also known as "Genius Grants."
Fellows receive an $800,000 stipend with no conditions.
news.wisc.edu/two-uw-madis...
Two UW–Madison professors named MacArthur Fellows
Atmospheric scientist Ángel F. Adames Corraliza and nuclear security specialist Sébastien Philippe, professors at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, have been awarded 2025 MacArthur Fellowships.
news.wisc.edu
October 8, 2025 at 5:31 PM
📢 We're so excited the #WiCORLecture is only one week away!!

Attend in-person with colleagues, friends, and family on Wed. Oct 8 at 7:30 pm! go.wisc.edu/wicor-lectur...
Prof. Jim Cleaves will present "Understanding the Chemical Origins of Life" as the fall WiCOR Lecture on Oct 8 @ 7:30 PM!

This event is open to the public!
Full event details: go.wisc.edu/wicor-lectur...

🧪🔭 #Astrobiology #OriginsOfLife #PrebioticChemistry #chemsky @widofficial.bsky.social
October 1, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Prof. Jim Cleaves will present "Understanding the Chemical Origins of Life" as the fall WiCOR Lecture on Oct 8 @ 7:30 PM!

This event is open to the public!
Full event details: go.wisc.edu/wicor-lectur...

🧪🔭 #Astrobiology #OriginsOfLife #PrebioticChemistry #chemsky @widofficial.bsky.social
September 22, 2025 at 4:03 PM
#WiCOR research "studying the origins of life on earth and – perhaps – elsewhere in the galaxy" continues! Read the Welcome from Chancellor Mnookin to learn more about campus and the start to the academic year!

On, Wisconsin! 👐
Welcome, Badgers! It’s an exciting time for innovation on campus: our dazzling Morgridge Hall is open, we earned a STARS gold ranking for sustainability & so much life-saving research takes place here every day. See my full message: news.wisc.edu/welcome-to-a...

On, Wisconsin 👐
September 3, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Check out this fascinating article from #WiCORMember Juliette Becker 📰👀

🔭 🧪 #exoplanets #WhiteDwarfs #astronomy
When stars die, could life begin? White dwarfs could possibly host planets with oceans, making them worth considering in the search for life.

I wrote about the science (and surprises) of white dwarf planets at The Conversation. theconversation.com/earth-size-s...
Earth-size stars and alien oceans – an astronomer explains the case for life around white dwarfs
Could tiny stars a fraction the size of our solar system’s Sun have habitable planets orbiting them? A new study says it’s possible.
theconversation.com
September 3, 2025 at 8:47 PM
WiCOR is kicking off our first Summer Training in Astrobiology Research (STAR) 2025 Bootcamp!

This week will be filled with content about #Astronomy, #AtmosphericScience, #Oceanography, #Geoscience, #Chemistry, #Biology, and #OriginsResearch!

wicor.wisc.edu/star-2025-bo...

#WiCORstar2025

🧪 🔭
August 18, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Listen 🎧 to #WiCORMember Hannah Zanowski's interview on The Larry Meiller Show on Wisconsin Public Radio. She shares about her research on the #oceanography of #Earth 🌎and #exoplanets 🪐 -"why stop at one ocean"!

🧪 🔭
August 14, 2025 at 3:27 PM
We’re days away from sending the first #WiCOR Newsletter!

Sign up now to ensure you receive it!
explore.wisc.edu/wicorlanding
explore.wisc.edu
July 14, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Webinar recording available featuring #Research about #Plants 🌱 in #Space 🔭 - the first presentation is from Simon Gilroy, a professor at @uwmadison.bsky.social and a #WiCORMember

🧪
👀The webinar recording is now available for viewing.🌱 Enjoy! plantae.org/plantaeprese...

#plantscience
📣Join us for the upcoming Plantae webinar on June 17 at 5:00 am Eastern time, hosted by the 2025 Plantae Fellows.🌱

👉Free registration at buff.ly/8FjzvUl.

#plantscience
June 20, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Exciting article from @uwmadisonls.bsky.social on Hannah Zanowski's #exoplanet #oceanography work with #WiCOR!

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#astronomy
AOS Prof. Hannah Zanowski studies polar oceanography, and she's now bringing that expertise to WiCOR, where she focuses on planetary oceanography by modeling early Earth and exoplanet conditions to understand what ultimately makes a planet habitable after it forms.

ls.wisc.edu/news/from-ea...
From Earth to Exoplanets: Studying Oceans Across the Universe
ls.wisc.edu
June 19, 2025 at 5:44 PM
📢 Check out this new paper on #hycean planets from Joseph Livesey, @jcbecker.bsky.social, and Susanna Widicus Weaver!

This work was supported by @wicor.bsky.social and the #Research Forward Program at @uwmadison.bsky.social with funding from @warfnews.bsky.social!

#exoplanets #Astronomy 🔭 🧪
Hycean planets (ocean worlds with H-rich atmospheres) are thought to be promising spots for life, particularly around M-dwarfs, with the habitable zone being much wider than it is for terrestrial planets. But there's a twist...
June 17, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Reposted by Wisconsin Center for Origins Research
'Baby' stars are typically surrounded by disks loaded with gas, but it isn't long before that mass starts to drift away. #UWMadison astronomers say that might mean gas giants like Jupiter need to form earlier than rocky planets like ours. news.wisc.edu/measuring-ga...
Measuring gases around young stars, astronomers unlock major clues to planet formation
UW–Madison astronomers and international collaborators have produced the most accurate measurement of the gases swirling around young stars and their changing mass over time. The discovery offers clue
news.wisc.edu
June 17, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Visiting #WisconsinStateParks this summer? Like star gazing? 🌟🌌🪐

Attend a #UniverseInThePark talk to learn from astronomers and gaze through telescopes 🔭 🧪

Find details from @uwbadgertalks.bsky.social at badgertalks.wisc.edu/uitp/

#Astronomy #StarGazing #StateParks
June 16, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Congratulations to #WiCORMember Ke Zhang and the entire ALMA AGE-PRO team on this achievement!

See the press releases from @thenrao.bsky.social and @uwmadison.bsky.social to learn more!

go.wisc.edu/w50l31

🔭 🧪
June 16, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Congratulations to the international AGE-PRO team, led by #WiCORMember Ke Zhang, for their 12 papers in the upcoming issue of the Astrophysical Journal! 🎉

Read the press releases to learn more about their groundbreaking work on #ProtoplanetaryDisks!

public.nrao.edu/news/alma-pl...

🧪🔭
June 13, 2025 at 4:21 PM
If you missed it live, the recording is now available online!

Listen to learn about the challenge of detecting #exoplanets and the interdisciplinary research of #WiCOR

Their interview begins at 50min, and the WiCOR portion begins at 1hr23min during the May 14th episode
Catch #WICORMember Prof. Thomas Beatty (@tgbeatty.bsky.social) and Jim Lattis on Wisconsin Public Radio's Larry Meiller Show tomorrow, May 14 from 12 - 1 pm.

www.wpr.org/shows/larry-...
Jim Lattis and I will be on Madison's local NPR affiliate tomorrow afternoon from noon - 1pm, as a part of the Larry Meiller Show.

We'll talk about exoplanets, the search for life, and the new WiCOR center at UW.

Locals can listen on FM 88.7, or online www.wpr.org/shows/larry-...
May 15, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Catch #WICORMember Prof. Thomas Beatty (@tgbeatty.bsky.social) and Jim Lattis on Wisconsin Public Radio's Larry Meiller Show tomorrow, May 14 from 12 - 1 pm.

www.wpr.org/shows/larry-...
Jim Lattis and I will be on Madison's local NPR affiliate tomorrow afternoon from noon - 1pm, as a part of the Larry Meiller Show.

We'll talk about exoplanets, the search for life, and the new WiCOR center at UW.

Locals can listen on FM 88.7, or online www.wpr.org/shows/larry-...
The Larry Meiller Show
Join us every weekday from 11:00 to 1:00 when we discuss the environment, consumer issues, nature, books, gardening, home improvement and so much more. Our expert guests share their knowledge and take...
www.wpr.org
May 13, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Join #WiCOR TONIGHT, May 1, at 7 pm for the #WiCORLecture from Nobel Laureate Jack W. Szostak!

go.wisc.edu/d539v5
Join #WiCOR for the Spring 2025 #WiCORLecture on “The Origin of Life: Easy or Hard?” from Prof. Jack W. Szostak on 📅May 1 @ 7 pm in the📍Chemistry Building S429, UW-Madison!

This talk is open to the public - share with friends & family!

wicor.wisc.edu/event/wicor-...

Accessibility? wicor@wisc.edu
May 1, 2025 at 8:26 PM
The next #WiCORLecture is in one week!

Make plans to join us for this #OriginsOfLife seminar!

🗓️May 1, 7pm, Chem S429 @uwmadisonchem.bsky.social, @uwmadison.bsky.social
Join #WiCOR for the Spring 2025 #WiCORLecture on “The Origin of Life: Easy or Hard?” from Prof. Jack W. Szostak on 📅May 1 @ 7 pm in the📍Chemistry Building S429, UW-Madison!

This talk is open to the public - share with friends & family!

wicor.wisc.edu/event/wicor-...

Accessibility? wicor@wisc.edu
April 24, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Prof. Thomas Beatty (@tgbeatty.bsky.social), a member of #WiCOR, will be presenting a Badger Talk on April 24th @ 6pm at the Middleton Public Library!

Register to attend and learn more about "How Can We Find Other Life in the Universe?"
Are we alone in the universe? Join UW–Madison astronomer presenter Thomas Beatty on April 24 at 6 PM at the Middleton Public Library to explore how scientists are searching for life on other planets.

Learn how UW is leading this cosmic quest: hubs.li/Q03fDs_c0

#BadgerTalks
April 23, 2025 at 10:04 PM