Prof. Ewine van Dishoeck, the transformational figure in astrochemistry in the past four decades, gave a public talk on star and planet formation at Peking University on October 8, 2026, hosted by the Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics and Department of Astronomy at Peking University and the PKU Young Astronomical Society. In the talk, entitled "Building stars, planets and the ingredients for life in space", Prof. van Dishoeck gave an inspirational description of the chemical processes that occur in molecular clouds, protostellar envelopes, and protostellar disks, with discoveries driven by amazing new results with the James Webb Space Telescope and Atacama Large Millimeter Array.
Ewine van Dishoeck is professor of molecular astrophysics at Leiden University, the Netherlands. She is one of the most celebrated astronomers, having won the 2018 Kavli Prize for Astrophysics and 2022 Niels Bohr Gold Medal, among many others. She has held many leadership roles, including serving as President of the International Astronomical Union from 2018-2021. With almost 1000 publications and over 100,000, Prof. van Dishoeck is one of the most prolific and cited astronomers in the world. She has also been heavily involved in motivating and planning major telescopes, including JWST and ALMA.
The Sunshine Hall at Yingjie Center was packed for her public talk, with about 250 people in attendance and no empty seats. The audience asked questions related to how life developed on Earth, the detection of biosignatures on exoplanets, and her experiences in changing from chemistry to astronomy, while bridging both fields.
"Prof. van Dishoeck’s talk reminded me why I chose astronomy," said PKU PhD student Yuxin Guo. "The universe is immense and our lives are brief, and using a finite life to explore its infinite mysteries is a magnificent calling. I was also deeply inspired by her example as a woman in science. She broadened my sense of what is possible for us and gave me the confidence to aim high.”
"It was fantastic to see so many enthusiastic students at the lecture, from astronomy to chemistry, physics and geosciences. And even several astronomy observing clubs!," said Prof. van Dishoeck of her visit. "I really enjoyed interacting with them. With the arrival of new young
faculty, the future of the field of star- and planet formation at PKU is bright."
In addition to her public talk, Prof. van Dishoeck participated in a day-long workshop with the Star and Planet Formation group at KIAA. Students and postdocs from PKU astronomy presented their work and received comments from Prof. van Dishoeck and others. Several students and faculty from the Atmospheric Department at the School of Physics and from Tsinghua University also attended the workshop.
Her visit and talk were support by Peking University funding for leaders in the field, by KIAA, and by the PKU Young Astronomical Society.
Prof. Ewine van Dishoeck delivering a public talk on astrochemistry and the ingredients for life.
After the talk, Prof. van Dishoeck met with young astronomers from PKU and across Beijing.
Prof. van Dishoeck presented a science talk and discussed the work in astrochemistry and exoplanets with students, postdocs, and faculty from PKU and THU, held at the Kavli Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics.
