Science and Research

Astrobiology is one of the new multidisciplinary research fields of the 21st Century requiring collaborations across the physical sciences—astronomers, chemists, geologists, physicists—as well as people from the biosciences and, as discussed in this chapter, the humanities and social sciences. Astrobiology has a along and distinguished history in Europe though only in last decade has it develop its identity as a robust and independent field, one that will be further developed by new structures, such as the European Astrobiology Institute. This chapter looks at how astrobiology will develop in Europe and provide new career paths for next generation of researchers.