An audience with

Professor Martin Van Kranendonk

Head of School - Earth & Planetary Sciences (EPS)

| The Search for Life on Mars: A New Approach


21 January 2026


2:00pm to 3:30pm


Curtin University Dubai, DIAC

Register now

| About the series

The Pro Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Speaker Series brings Curtin University’s global academic leadership into direct conversation with the community.

Each edition features globally and locally respected researchers and thought leaders who are shaping knowledge, policy, and innovation across disciplines. The series is designed to make complex ideas accessible, spark curiosity, and encourage meaningful dialogue across education, industry, and society.

At Curtin Dubai, this series reflects our commitment to academic excellence, research impact, and future-focused thinking.

| About this edition

Mars once had water, movement, and the conditions needed for life. Decades of exploration have brought us closer, yet the biggest question remains unanswered.

Did life ever exist on Mars?

In this edition of the Pro Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Speaker Series, Professor Martin J. Van Kranendonk invites us to look at this question from a different perspective. Drawing on discoveries from Earth’s earliest environments, his work is reshaping how scientists think about where and how to search for life beyond our planet.

This session offers a rare opportunity to explore one of science’s most fascinating questions and the ideas guiding future Mars missions.

| Meet the speaker

Professor Martin J. Van Kranendonk, Head of School - Earth and Planetary Sciences and Dean of Science at Curtin University, Australia.

He is internationally recognised as one of the world’s leading experts on the early Earth and the environments that supported the origin of life.

Professor Martin currently leads the LifeSpringsMars (LSM) mission concept, which explores hot spring deposits on Mars as potential evidence of ancient microbial life.

He is also passionate about science communication and regularly engages global audiences through public lectures, films, and documentaries.

| Past edition