CPS News

Dr Paola Pinilla (Mullard Space Science Laboratory at UCL) has been named as a laureate and Dr Michael Booth (UCL Chemistry) as a finalist in the 2026 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the UK.

UCL students have impressed judges with their space ideas and innovations at this year’s global space challenge Act in Space 2026.

Just over a year since SMILE arrived in the Netherlands in two parts, the now-complete and thoroughly-tested spacecraft has left for its journey to its launch site in French Guiana.

On the 9th January 2026, the Centre for Planetary Sciences at UCL/Birkbeck (CPS) hosted the UK Planetary Forum Early Careers Meeting for UK early-career planetary scientists.

To celebrate UCL’s 200th anniversary, we are delighted to host a very special lecture on 25th February 2026. The lecture will be delivered by the esteemed Professor Giovanna Tinetti (UCL/KCL).

UCL researchers are investigating how a UK-led team could design and build one of the core instruments on a flagship NASA mission, the Habitable Worlds Observatory.

ExoClock Unlocked is a citizen-science project led by CPS colleagues in support of the ESA Ariel exoplanet space mission. All those interested are welcome to get involved! Deadline 15th December.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance rover identified intriguing new evidence from the surface of Mars that could shed light on whether the planet was once able to support life.

A new study led by PhD researcher Hannah Woodward at Birkbeck, University of London, shows current models may miss where life thrives - offering a new tool for astrobiology and exoplanet research.

Congratulations to the winners of our Student Presentation Awards for their talks and posters presented at our Summer Meeting on 24th June!

“Space ice” contains tiny crystals and is not, as previously assumed, a completely disordered material like liquid water, according to a new study by scientists at UCL and the University of Cambridge.

We are delighted to announce the winners of this year's CPS Outreach and Engagement Awards, which were presented at our recent Summer Meeting.

Gas in planet-forming discs, which provides fuel for giant planets to form, disperses in just a few million years, according to new research by an international team including UCL astronomers.

Astronomers at UCL and the University of Warwick, as part of a global collaboration including partners in Chile, USA and Europe, have discovered the smallest known star to host a transiting giant plan

Congratulations to CPS colleagues Professor Steve Miller and Karen Anne Devoil for their recent election to the Council of the Royal Astronomical Society as Vice-President (G) and Councillor (G) respectively.