NOMIS–ETH Fellowship Program
How did life on Earth begin? How did it develop and proliferate? And is there life on other planets? These are fundamental questions about life that are still unknown. Over recent decades, answering some of humanity’s most profound questions has evolved from a speculative pursuit to an urgent endeavor that has galvanized disciplines across the physical and life sciences. Despite spectacular progress made in various disciplines, our knowledge of the origins of life on Earth, and more generally in the Universe, is in its infancy. Answering questions about how and why life began and placing new observations in context is an immense scientific challenge that requires an unprecedented and innovative collaboration between disciplines.
Supporting this interdisciplinary and collaborative effort, the NOMIS Foundation–ETH Fellowship Program is enabling exceptional early-career researchers to explore these big questions, make connections, take risks and build bridges across the boundaries of disciplines. The fellowships will be hosted at the Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life at ETH Zurich.
On the Trail of Evolution: NOMIS–ETH Fellowship (film produced by Armin Nussbaumer; courtesy of the ETH Foundation)
About the Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life
Established in 2022 at ETH Zurich in Switzerland, the Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life aims to establish an ambitious and innovative collaboration between different disciplines to comprehensively address the fundamental questions about life and advance our understanding of the processes that led to the emergence of life. More than 40 research groups from five departments will work together with their counterparts from around the world to investigate the origin of life on and beyond Earth.
People
About Emilie Skoog Emilie Skoog is a NOMIS–ETH Fellow at the Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life at ETH Zurich (Switzerland). She is conducting her research under the mentorship of Marie Schölmerich. Emilie Skoog is a microbial and viral ecologist interested in how microorganisms and their viruses interact with environmental chemistry and what these […]
NOMIS Fellow
ETH Zurich
About Sarah Joiret Sarah Joiret is a NOMIS–ETH Fellow at the Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life at ETH Zurich (Switzerland). She will conduct her research under the mentorship of Caroline Dorn beginning in September 2026. Joiret is a planetary scientist from Liège, Belgium. She is particularly interested in the dynamical evolution of planetary […]
NOMIS Fellow
ETH Zurich
Antonin Affholder is a NOMIS–ETH Fellow at the Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life at ETH Zurich (Switzerland). He is conducting his research in the Department of Environmental Systems Science under the mentorship of Loïc Pellissier.
NOMIS Fellow
ETH Zurich
Thomas Drant is a NOMIS–ETH Fellow at the Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life at ETH Zurich (Switzerland). He is conducting his research in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences under the mentorship of Paolo Sossi and Olivier Bachmann.
NOMIS Fellow
ETH Zurich
About Sean Jordan Sean Jordan is a NOMIS–ETH Fellow at the Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life at ETH Zurich (Switzerland). He is conducting his research under the mentorship of Sascha Quanz in the Exoplanets and Habitability group in the Institute for Particle and Astrophysics. Jordan is a planetary scientist and astrophysicist, originally from […]
NOMIS Fellow
ETH Zurich
David Schnettler is a NOMIS–ETH Fellow at the Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life at ETH Zurich (Switzerland). He is conducting his research under the mentorship of Sven Panke in the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D-BSSE) in the Bioprocess Laboratory.
NOMIS Fellow
ETH Zurich
Taylor Priest is a NOMIS–ETH Fellow at the Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life at ETH Zurich (Switzerland). He is conducting his research under the mentorship of Shinichi Sunagawa and Marie Schoelmerich in the Microbiome Lab.
NOMIS Fellow
ETH Zurich
About Craig Walton Craig Walton is a NOMIS–ETH Fellow at the Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life at ETH Zurich (Switzerland). He is conducting his research under the mentorship of Maria Schöenbächler, who is leading the Planetary Geochemistry group in the Department of Earth Sciences. Walton is a planetary scientist hailing from Scotland. After […]
Former NOMIS Fellow
ETH Zurich
8 of 8 People
Publications
Large closed-basin lakes sustainably supplied phosphate during the origins of life
The origin of life on Earth required a supply of phosphorus (P) for the synthesis of universal biomolecules. Closed lakes may have accumulated high P concentrations on early Earth. However, it is not clear whether prebiotic P uptake in such settings would then have been sustainable. We show that large closed-basin lakes can combine high P concentrations at steady state with extremely high rates of biological productivity. Our case study is Mono Lake in California, which has close to 1 millimolar dissolved P at steady state despite extremely high rates of biological productivity, in contrast to smaller closed basins where life is scarce. Hence, large closed-basin lakes offer an environment where high rates of prebiotic P productivity can plausibly coexist with high steady-state P concentrations. Such lakes should have readily formed on the heavily cratered and volcanically active surface of early Earth.
Research Fields
Natural Sciences, Physics & Astronomy
1 of 1 Publications
News
February 10, 2026
Why only a small number of planets are suitable for life
The search for life on other planets has long focused on the presence of water. Now, NOMIS–ETH Fellow Craig Walton and colleagues have demonstrated why only a small number of planets have the chemical requirements for life — including phosphorus and nitrogen — and why the Earth is so fortunate. Their findings, published in Nature […]
September 5, 2025
ETH Zurich opens call for applications to NOMIS–ETH Fellowship Program
ETH Zurich has opened the 2025 call for applications for the NOMIS–ETH Fellowship Program within the Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life (COPL). Researchers are invited to apply between September 5, 2025 and November 7, 2025. The NOMIS–ETH Fellowship Program supports outstanding early-career researchers in conducting independent, interdisciplinary research on the origin and prevalence of […]
Thomas Drant and Antonin Affholder have been named the new NOMIS–ETH Fellows at the Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life (COPL) at ETH Zurich. Supporting COPL’s interdisciplinary and collaborative effort to explore fundamental questions about how and why life began, the NOMIS–ETH Fellowship Program enables exceptional early-career researchers to examine these big questions, make […]
March 26, 2025
Were large soda lakes the cradle of life?
Scientists have long puzzled over how life could have emerged when phosphorus, a key ingredient for DNA, RNA, and cellular energy, was so scarce on early Earth. New research by NOMIS–ETH Fellow Craig Walton and fellow scientists suggests that large soda lakes — alkali lakes rich in dissolved sodium salts — could have concentrated phosphorus […]
February 3, 2025
"On the Trail of Evolution" film showcases NOMIS–ETH Fellow's research into the origins of life
Research at ETH Zurich’s Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life (COPL) brings together scientists from diverse disciplines to explore fundamental questions about the origins life. As part of this effort, NOMIS–ETH Fellow Taylor Priest is investigating the mobile genetic elements that play an important role in shaping biodiversity and the expansion of life on Earth. He […]
September 9, 2024
Call for applications to the NOMIS–ETH Fellowship Program
ETH Zurich has opened the 2024 call for applications to the NOMIS–ETH Fellowship Program. Applications are being accepted until November 8, 2024. The NOMIS–ETH Fellowship Program supports postdoctoral researchers at ETH Zurich within the Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life (COPL) in Zurich, Switzerland. The program is intended to foster the development of young […]
March 31, 2024
ETH Zurich announces 2024 NOMIS–ETH Fellows
ETH Zurich has announced the three postdoctoral fellows who will join the Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life (COPL) at ETH as part of the NOMIS–ETH Fellowship Program. David Schnettler, Taylor Priest and Sean Jordan will begin their NOMIS Fellowships between July and September this year. The ETH announcement follows. 2024 Cohort of the […]
February 28, 2024
Do we have cosmic dust to thank for life on Earth?
It might be that what set prebiotic chemistry in motion and kept it going in the early days of the Earth was dust from outer space accumulating in holes melted into ice sheets. NOMIS Fellow Craig Walton and researchers at ETH Zurich and the University of Cambridge have used a computer model to test this […]
