The UCLA Center for Astrobiology is one of five centers of the UCLA branch of the University of California-wide Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP) and one of sixteen lead teams comprising the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI).

	Artwork courtesy of NASA.

Research, education, and public outreach activities of the Center are aimed at the long-term questions and goals of astrobiology, namely: How do planetary processes give rise to life? How were planets formed? Are there habitable planetary bodies outside our Solar System? When and how did life appear on Earth and, possibly, Mars? What are the biological innovations that allow life to climb to complexity on planetary timescales?

In order to begin to answer these transdisciplinary questions, and explain them to others, special people and special tools are required.

Our program of research focuses on four themes:

• Extrasolar Planetary Systems
• Habitability within the Solar System
• Earth's Early Environment and Life
• Evolution of Biological Complexity