Winter school at Les Houches: The exploration of Jupiter and its moons by ESA’s JUICE mission

Les Houches, France

25-30 January 2026

The European Space Agency's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) was launched in 2023 and will reach Jupiter in 2031. JUICE will explore the Jupiter system with a particular focus on its largest moon Ganymede. This school is targeted (but not limited) to early career scientists (including PhD students and post-doctoral researchers). It will cover the main science topics of the JUICE mission with the goal to best prepare the future exploitation and interpretation of its data. Key topics include Jupiter, its atmosphere and magnetosphere, the icy Galilean moons (with an emphasis on Ganymede), minor moons and the dust and ring system. Ground- and space- based observations recently obtained on the Jupiter system, as well as links with exoplanet science, will also be presented.

The format of the school includes tutorials, seminar-like presentations, inspirational evening talks, a poster session, a workshop on science planning and archive, and a roundtable on future missions to outer planets. Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit an abstract for the poster session together with a short statement of interest for attending the school. Please note that the number of spaces is limited to 70. In case a higher number of applications is received, a selection will be made based on career stage, abstract and statement of interest.

The participants are expected to stay the entire week, and are housed in "chalets" in individual bedrooms. Three meals each day in a common dining room are included in the accommodation fees (630 Euros). Travel to the venue is expected to be covered by the participants. The organisation will provide financial support to waive accommodation fees to a limited number of early career researchers.

 

 

LIST OF SPEAKERS

  • Fran Bagenal (Laboratory for Atmospheric & Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder)
  • Tim Van Hoolst (Royal Observatory of Belgium, Belgium)
  • Federico Tosi (INAF, Roma, Italy),
  • Audrey Vorburger (University of Bern, Switzerland)
  • Joachim Saur (University of Cologne, Germany),
  • Yasuhito Sekine (Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan)
  • Diego Turrini (Turin Astrophysical Observatory, Italy),
  • Leigh Fletcher (University of Leicester, UK)
  • Michele Dougherty (Imperial College London, UK)
  • Samantha Trumbo (UC San Diego, USA)
  • Sam Fayolle (ESA ESTEC the Netherlands)
  • Lorenz Roth (KTH, Sweden)
  • Emeline Bolmont (University of Geneva, Switzerland)
  • Giuseppe Sarri (ESA, ESTEC, the Netherlands)

 

IMPORTANT DATES

 

  DATE
   2nd announcement 4 June
   Registration open 4 June
   Abstract submission open 4 June
   Registration deadline 15 August
   Grants request deadline 15 August
   Abstract submission deadline 15 August
   Notice of acceptance 1st October
   Workshop start 25 January
   Workshop end 30 January


 

 

REGISTRATION


The registration page, including grant request, can be found here.

 

 

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE


The scientific organizing committee is composed of

  • Hans Huybrighs (Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Dublin, Ireland)
  • Alessandra Migliorini (Institute for Space Astrophysics and Planetology - INAF, Rome, Italy)
  • Gabriel Tobie (Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géosciences, CNRS, Nantes Université, France)
  • Claire Vallat (European Space Agency, ESAC, Villanueva de la Canada, Spain)
  • Olivier Witasse (European Space Agency, ESTEC, The Netherlands)

 

SPONSORS