New Scientist presents...

Instant Expert: The Origins of Life

It’s the ultimate question: where do we come from? Hear about the first living molecules on Earth, the weird and wonderful early organisms they evolved into, the origins of sexual reproduction, and the search for life on other planets. Our one-day masterclass with six leading experts will guide you through the lucky evolutionary mistakes that led to all the life we see today, and current experiments to recreate life all over again in the lab.

Speakers:

• Matt Powner, reader of organic chemistry at University College London
• Emily Mitchell, Henslow Research Fellow in Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge
• Judith Mank, chair of evolutionary and comparative biology at University College London
• Lewis Dartnell, astrobiologist and professor of science communication at the University of Westminister
• Phil Holliger, program leader at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, University of Cambridge
• Zita Martins, astrobiologist and a Royal Society University Research Fellow, Imperial College London
• Hosted by Penny Sarchet, biomedical news editor at New Scientist
  

Overview:

New research is shedding light on the oldest of questions: what is life, how did it begin, and where else might we find it? Theories abound as to what the first living things looked like and where they came from, but experiments to recreate the first essential steps in the lab are giving new clues as to what really happened – and what we should be looking for in our hunt for extra-terrestrial life.

Join our speakers on a highly engaging journey into the origins of life.

Topics covered will include:

• How and where life began
  
• The rise and fall of early lifeforms
  
• Living in extreme environments
  
• Life on other planets
  
• Sparking life again
  
• The origins of sexual reproduction
• And much more

Who should attend?

Anyone interested in discovering where life came from, whatever your age or background. Whether you're a scientist, a student or simply a fascinated human being, Instant Expert: The Origins of Life offers the chance to learn directly from the experts at our one-day masterclass.

What's included in your ticket:

• In-depth and engaging talks from 6 leading experts
• Ask-an-expert Question Time session
• Your chance to meet our six speakers and host Penny Sarchet
• Buffet lunch, plus morning and afternoon refreshments
• Exclusive Instant Expert certificate
• Exclusive on-the-day New Scientist subscription deal, book and merchandise offers

Booking information:

• The event will be held in the Brunei Auditorium at RCGP / 30 Euston Square.
• Doors to the Auditorium will open at 9:15am, with talks commencing at 10am sharp. The event will finish at 5pm.
• We require the name of each person attending - please ensure this is provided at the time of booking. If you need to change the name of an attendee, please notify us as soon as possible: live@newscientist.com
  
• Eventbrite will email you your ticket(s) immediately after purchase. Please remember to bring your ticket with you as you'll need it to gain entry. We can scan tickets from a print out, or off the screen of a phone / tablet / smartwatch.
• The ticket price includes a buffet lunch, as well as morning and afternoon refreshments.
• The schedule / exact running order for the day will be confirmed closer to the event, and will be emailed to all ticket holders.
• Should you require details about disabled access, please contact us at: live@newscientist.com
• Tickets are non-transferable to any other New Scientist event.
• All tickets are non-refundable, however if the event has sold out then we may be able to offer a refund if we are able to sell your ticket(s) to someone on the event waitlist (please note that there is no guarantee that we will be able to sell on your ticket(s)). Please email us at live@newscientist.com to notify us. In the event of a sell out, all requests of this nature will be dealt with in the order they are received.
• New Scientist reserves the right to alter the event and its line-up, or cancel the event. In the unlikely event of cancellation, all tickets will be fully refunded. Neither New Scientist nor its parent company will be liable for any additional expenses incurred by ticket holders in relation to the event.
• Tickets are subject to availability and are only available in advance through Eventbrite.
• A minimum of 100 early bird discount tickets are available priced at £129 (saving £20 on the full ticket price of £149). Early bird tickets will only be available until 23:59 GMT on Sunday 5 November.
• There are a very limited number of discounted student scholorship tickets available - please email live@newscientist.com to enquire about availability. No other concessionary tickets are available for this event.
• Louise Preston from Birkbeck University was previously advertised as speaking at this event, but will no longer be there.

See more events from New Scientist