Chemical processes in Solar-type star forming regions

Department of Chemistry, Torino, 13-17 September 2021


ACO-DOC Conference participants photo is available!


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Co-organized by

Università di Torino & INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri & Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG

info: aco.itn@inaf.it

The conference is organised in the context of the EU 2020 ITN project AstroChemical Origins (ACO)

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 811312.

DOC (Dawn of Organic Chemistry)


This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 741002)


Rationale and motivations

How the chemical complexity evolves during the process leading to the formation of a Sun and its planetary system? Is the chemical richness of a Solar-like planetary system, at least partially, inherited from the earliest stages or is there a complete chemical reset? A powerful way to answering these questions is by comparing the chemical content in young protostars and primitive bodies of the Solar System, using astrochemistry as a tool. Yet, to do so, we need to fully understand the processes that govern the chemical evolution of a molecular cloud into a young planetary system.

The goal of the conference is to gather together the actors of this intrinsically interdisciplinary endeavor: astronomers, chemists and modelers. The recent huge progresses in the three areas make the time ripe for these communities to join and ride this scientific wave.

The conference aims to review:

  • The new results from the powerful observing facilities, such as the IRAM-NOEMA, ALMA and VLA interferometers, and the chemical composition during the youngest phases of Solar-like planetary systems, from prestellar cores to protoplanetary disks, with particular emphasis on the interstellar complex organic molecules;

  • The recent progresses due to the enhancement of high-performance computing facilities combined with efficient quantum chemistry algorithms, which allow for the in-silico simulation of many chemical processes occurring both in gas-phase and at grain surfaces;

  • The latest laboratory experiments which have provided new insights on the possible processes occurring in the interstellar conditions;

  • The new generation astrochemical models as well as the innovative tools to interpret the astronomical observations that have seen the light in the last few years;

  • The most recent results on the chemical composition of the small bodies of the Solar System.

This will naturally pave the way for discussing the future developments in front of us.

The meeting will consist of invited reviews, invited and contributed talks, and posters.

A limited amount of financial support will be dedicated to students and young researchers.