1 UK Centre for Astrobiology, Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, School of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Edinburgh , Edinburgh, UK .
2 Eberhard Karls Universitaet Tuebingen, Center for Applied Geoscience (ZAG) , Geomicrobiology, Tuebingen, Germany .
Astrobiology. 2018 Feb;18(2):224-243. doi: 10.1089/ast.2017.1713. Epub 2018 Jan 29.
The UK Centre for Astrobiology (UKCA) was set up in 2011 as a virtual center to contribute to astrobiology research, education, and outreach. After 5 years, we describe this center and its work in each of these areas. Its research has focused on studying life in extreme environments, the limits of life on Earth, and implications for habitability elsewhere. Among its research infrastructure projects, UKCA has assembled an underground astrobiology laboratory that has hosted a deep subsurface planetary analog program, and it has developed new flow-through systems to study extraterrestrial aqueous environments. UKCA has used this research backdrop to develop education programs in astrobiology, including a massive open online course in astrobiology that has attracted over 120,000 students, a teacher training program, and an initiative to take astrobiology into prisons. In this paper, we review these activities and others with a particular focus on providing lessons to others who may consider setting up an astrobiology center, institute, or science facility. We discuss experience in integrating astrobiology research into teaching and education activities. Key Words: Astrobiology-Centre-Education-Subsurface-Analog research. Astrobiology 18, 224-243.
英国天体生物学中心（UKCA）成立于 2011 年，是一个虚拟中心，旨在为天体生物学研究、教育和推广做出贡献。5 年后，我们将介绍该中心在这些领域的工作和成就。其研究重点是研究极端环境中的生命、地球生命的极限以及对其他地方可居住性的影响。在其研究基础设施项目中，UKCA 组装了一个地下天体生物学实验室，该实验室已经主持了一个深层地下行星模拟计划，并开发了新的流动系统来研究外星水相环境。UKCA 利用这一研究背景在天体生物学领域开展了教育项目，包括一门吸引了超过 12 万名学生的天体生物学大型开放式在线课程、一个教师培训计划，以及一项将天体生物学引入监狱的倡议。在本文中，我们回顾了这些活动以及其他一些活动，特别关注为可能考虑设立天体生物学中心、研究所或科学设施的人提供经验教训。我们讨论了将天体生物学研究融入教学和教育活动的经验。关键词：天体生物学-中心-教育-地下模拟研究。天体生物学 18，224-243。
