BREAKTHROUGH DISCUSS 2026
20 & 21 OCTOBER FROM 8AM BST

LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE:
AN EXPLORATORY DEBATE

LOGISTICAL INFORMATION

Registration
The conference and receptions are invitation only and capacity limited in person. Please e-mail breakthroughdiscuss@physics.ox.ac.uk if you did not receive an invite and wish to attend in person. We will consider your request provided there is capacity and affiliation with a partnering institution.

Travel sponsorship
We are sponsoring travel for SOC members and speakers. We are also soliciting applications from conference attendees to receive travel bursaries. Please see your registration form for more information.  

Accommodation
Oxford is always busy and it is strongly recommended to book your accommodation soonest. You can sample Oxford life by staying at one of the colleges, a hotel or B&B. SOC members, speakers and some bursary awardees will stay at The Randolph Hotel (Beaumont St, Oxford OX1 2LN, United Kingdom).
University Rooms provides a booking service for rooms and colleges and other university owned accommodation at reasonable rates, particularly during the University vacations. Bookings may be made directly with hotels or through companies such as booking.com, hotels.com, easyhotel.com, premierinn.com etc.

Venue
Rhodes House
S Parks Rd, Oxford OX1 3RG, United Kingdom 

Visiting Oxford
Oxford is a beautiful city of stunning architecture, history and culture. You'll find ancient and modern colleges, fascinating museums and galleries, and plenty of parks, gardens and green spaces in which to relax. The city centre is small enough to cover on foot and only a few minutes walk from the main rail and coach stations. Information on transport links including the nearest airports can be found here: Visiting Oxford. 

Past content
Content and videos from previous years are available here: breakthroughinitiatives.org/initiative/5. 

Questions
Please contact: breakthroughdiscuss@physics.ox.ac.uk

DAY ONE – OCTOBER 20th  

WELCOMING REMARKS

SESSION TWO
IS COMPLEX LIFE THE PRODUCT OF BIOLOGICAL POLLUTION, OR ITS ENIRONMENT?

Complex life on Earth evolved because planetary conditions made it possible. If complex life evolved elsewhere, those planets had environments capable of supporting its emergence. But how do such conditions arise, persist, and change?

This session examines the relative importance of geology and biology in shaping planetary habitability. Geological and environmental processes (e.g. volcanism, tectonics, climate regulation, ocean chemistry, and elemental cycling) may set the conditions within which life can survive and diversify. Yet life can also transform its own environment. Metabolic by-products such as oxygen can alter atmospheric, oceanic, and surface chemistry, changing the availability of essential elements and energy sources.

The central question is: to what extent complex life owes its existence to biological “pollution”, or are the effects of life on planetary conditions ultimately overwhelmed by geology?

SCIENCE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Speakers: TBD 

SESSION THREE
SHOULD HUMANITY DELIBERATELY TRANSMIT SIGNALS TO EXTRATERRESTRIAL CIVILIZATIONS?

​​Should humanity deliberately transmit messages toward nearby stars, or restrict itself to passive listening? Although Earth has emitted radio signals for decades through broadcasting, radar, and planetary observations, transmitting signals with the intention of attracting extraterrestrial attention is another matter.

The issue was highly polarized in the early 2010s, leading many organizations to avoid direct engagement. Yet the context has changed: thousands of exoplanets have been discovered, radio astronomy has advanced, and technosignature research has gained renewed momentum. The time is ripe to revisit this topic more than a decade later, bringing together experts in technosignatures, astrobiology, radio astronomy, and philosophy. The session would examine whether scientific and societal considerations have evolved, and whether active interstellar messaging should remain controversial, be cautiously pursued, or avoided altogether.

SCIENCE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Speakers: TBD