EU backs Turkish academic researching the origins of life

Assoc. Prof. Doğan Erbahar, an expert on nanostructures and one of the world’s leading academics in space research, received support from the EU for the scientific project ‘NanoSpace’, which investigates the origins of life. The research will bring together 118 scientists from 37 countries.

The European Union COST (Cooperation in Science and Technology) action titled “Carbon Molecular Nanostructures in Space”, of which Assoc. Prof. Doğan Erbahar is one of the proposers, has been approved for support. Starting in the fall of 2022 and lasting for 4 years, ‘NanoSpace’ aims to investigate the amount of carbon nanostructures in space, their formation mechanisms, and their role in astrochemistry and astrobiology.

Assoc. Prof. Doğan Erbahar, who has expertise in nanostructures, is among the pioneers of research on fullerenes in space. Emphasizing that in 2015, the discovery that fullerene molecules are abundant in space revealed a new field of research, Doğuş University Department of Mechanical Engineering Assoc. Prof. Doğan Erbahar stated that the ideas they have been working on with their European colleagues since then have sprouted and gradually assumed an interdisciplinary character and as a result, they have prepared a COST action proposal.

“MAY HAVE PLAYED A ROLE IN THE ORIGINS OF LIFE”

Expressing that they are very happy to have their action proposal supported, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Doğan Erbahar stated that he is currently researching the role that fullerene molecules may have played on the origins of life together with Eftal Gezer, who is currently working as a scholar at Doğuş University, and that this action will add a great synergy to the research.

WHAT IS THE COST ACTION?

Funded by the European Union, COST actions function as interdisciplinary research networks that bring together researchers and innovators from a wide range of disciplines, from academia to SMEs, from public organizations to private institutions. Open to all scientific and technological disciplines, including emerging fields, COST actions create an active environment for scientists from European countries to conduct research on a topic of their choice for up to 4 years.