The Wisconsin Center for Origins Research Summer Training in Astrobiology Research (STAR) 2026 Bootcamp is designed to provide an interdisciplinary introduction to the major research areas in Astrobiology and Origins Research. This week-long bootcamp will feature lectures from leading scientists on astronomy, planetary science, chemistry, and biology – see the full list of topics below! The content will be aimed at early-stage graduate students or upper-level undergraduate students.
I would highly recommend the WiCOR bootcamp for students from any background. I made many new friends from different disciplines and had so much fun learning about a broad range of astrobiology topics I did not know before!
~2025 Attendee
Important Details
Dates: June 1-5, 2026
Time: 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM, daily
Schedule: 80 min lectures, a 60 min lunch, and two 20 min breaks
Location: University of Wisconsin-Madison Campus
Topics & Experts: See Topics and Experts below
Fee: $ TBD per participant
Housing: Housing information, including costs, will be shared for those attending from outside UW-Madison
Registration: Our registration form is not yet available, please complete this interest form: https://forms.gle/9S7BdUQmkrELfehi8
Credit: No Credits offered
Digital Badge: Participants who complete the assessment at the conclusion of the Bootcamp can earn a STAR Bootcamp digital badge.
It was a great experience that introduced me to many new concepts and made me confront my own field from a variety of new lenses. The bootcamp is built to foster interdisciplinary collaboration; it sparked deep discussions about fundamental questions regarding the origins of life!
~2025 Attendee
Topics
- Interdisciplinary Collaboration
- Astronomy
- Star Formation & Astrochemistry
- Stellar Evolution
- Planet Formation
- Exoplanet Detection and Characterization
- Earth Science in the context of Exoplanets
- Planetary Structure
- Atmospheres
- Oceans
- Chemical Cycles on Earth
- Chemistry/Biochemistry
- Chemical Processes for Life
- Connecting Biochemistry to Cells
- Biology
- Intro to Cellular Biology
- Intro to Darwinian Evolution
- Origins Research
- Abiogenesis on Earth
- Evolution Before Genes
- The Emergence of Biological Individuals
- Evolution of Life on Earth
- Possibilities for Life on Other Worlds
STAR is a crash course in everything from stars to planets to cellular processes that (may) have led to the origins of life. Lectures designed for non-experts organically transitioned into discussions ranging from clarifying to philosophical questions. Whether you care about the origins of planets or cells, this course will open your prospective on how fields across STEM are trying to understand the origins of life.
~2025 Attendee
The STAR Bootcamp was a valuable experience that helped me look at astrobiology from a lens far beyond just the “Astro-” focus and opened the door for a lot of interdisciplinary discussion that will be necessary to answer the questions that arise when searching for extraterrestrial life.
~2025 Attendee
Expert Presenters in 2025*
alphabetical order by last name
- Ángel F. Adames Corraliza
- Zachary Adam
- Thomas Beatty
- Juliette Becker
- David Baum
- Timothy Bertram
- Katrina Forest
- Eric Roden
- Zoe Todd
- Richard Townsend
- John Yin
- Hannah Zanowski
- Ke (Coco) Zhang
*we’ll update to 2026 once we’ve confirmed with our presenters