The aim of this workshop is to provide a platform for interdisciplinary collaboration among scientists and experts working on various aspects of extraterrestrial settlement, with a particular focus on in situ space agriculture in space stations and on the Moon and Mars. The event encourages the exchange of knowledge, sharing of research findings, and the development of new forms of cooperation across disciplines such as physics (e.g. plasma physics, astrophysics), biology (botany, plant physiology, microbiology, food biology), astrochemistry and astrobiology. This informal workshop aims to promote discussions that can lead to a pan-European community collaborating in space agriculture. The workshop is organised such as to allow opportunities for all participants to present their work and ideas. There is no registration fee.
Dates
Meeting – September 18th – 9:30 – 17:00, September 19th – 9:30 – 16:00
Registration – September 5th, 2025
Venue
Comenius University in Bratislava (https://maps.app.goo.gl/fvNaqaqiS1TMnUge9), stop Botanická záhrada (trams 4, 9, bus 29, 32)
Registration form
To sing up for the event please fill in the online registration form before September 5th, 2025.
Timetable for Space Agriculture workshop
- Sept 18, 08:40 – presentation title update
- Sept 11, 11:00 – programme update
- Sept 10, 14:45 – workshop programme published
| Thursday | September 18, 2025 | |
| 08.30 | Registration | |
| 09.15 | Opening and Welcome Juraj Országh and Veronika Medvecká |
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| 09.30 | Nigel J. Mason (University of Kent, HUN-REN ATOMKI) |
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| 10.15 | Anna Maria Wirth / Florence Grant I (University of Kent) | |
| 10.45 | Coffee / Tea | |
| 11.15 | Andrea Ševčovičová (Comenius University in Bratislava) Harnessing Plasma Technology for Plant Resilience in Extreme Environments: Assessment of Genotoxicity |
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| 12.00 | Miloš Barták (Masaryk University in Brno) Pros and cons of different experimental designs aimed to testing plants for culivation in space |
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| 12.30 | Lunch | |
| 13.30 | Štepán Krejčí (Masaryk University in Brno) Plant growth in lunar regolith analogues/simulants – recent series of experiments at the Masaryk University |
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| 14.00 | Ludmila Čechová (Brno University of Technology) From Rocks to Crops: Unlocking Space Agriculture with LIBS |
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| 14.30 | Dušan Kováčik (Comenius University in Bratislava) Atmospheric Plasma Technologies: From Surface Engineering to Seed Treatment for Space Agriculture |
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| 15.00 | Coffee / Tea | |
| 15.30 | Dominik Kostoláni (Comenius University in Bratislava) Low-Temperature Plasma and Plant Material: Insights and Opportunities |
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| 16.00 | Zdenko Machala (Comenius University in Bratislava) Can plasma enhancement of plant growth and nitrogen fixation be applied in space? |
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| 16.30 | Nikola Skoro (Institute of Physics, Belgrade) Using atmospheric pressure plasma systems for treatment of liquid samples and applications in agriculture |
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| 17.00 | Lab tours at Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics | |
| 19.00 | Workshop dinner at Karloveská Klubovňa, Jurigovo námestie 1 | |
| Friday | September 19, 2025 | |
| 09.30 | Sara Lopez-Gomollon (University of Kent) Reprogramming Life for Space: From Gene Regulation and Resilience to Sustainable Growth Beyond Earth |
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| 10.15 | Anna Maria Wirth / Florence Grant II (University of Kent) |
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| 10.45 | Coffee / Tea | |
| 11.15 | Martin Füleky (Mendel University in Brno) Space Agri Technologies |
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| 11.45 | Katarína Molnárová (Mendel University in Brno) Application and studies of Microalgae in Space… and more |
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| 12.15 | Lunch | |
| 13.15 | Peter Čermák (Comenius University in Bratislava) Detecting NOₓ Radicals Traces in Noisy Spaces |
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| 13.45 | František Krčma (Brno University of Technology) |
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| 14.15 | Ramin Mehrabifard (Comenius University in Bratislava) |
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| 14.30 | Mohamed Khalaf Fawwaz (Comenius University in Bratislava) |
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| 14.45 | Sulekha Komeravelli (Indian Institute of Science Education and Research) |
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| 15.00 | Discussion and future plans for collaboration experiments | |
| 15.30 | Coffee / Tea and Departure |
Useful links
- travel within Bratislava
- public transport in Bratislava, plan your route, get the mobile app, buy online tickets (https://www.idsbk.sk/en/)
- accommodation in Bratislava
Contacts
Peter Papp – local organizer (peter.papp(at)uniba.sk)
Petra Šrámková – local organizer (petra.sramkova(at)uniba.sk)
Veronika Medvecká – local organizer (veronika.medvecka(at)uniba.sk)
Juraj Országh – local organizer (juraj.orszagh(at)uniba.sk)
Nigel Mason – global organizer (N.J.Mason(at)kent.ac.uk)