Project description
Tracing the origins of distant worlds
The James Webb Space Telescope has transformed how we see distant worlds. For instance, we can see that many rocky exoplanets are far more complex than once imagined. Some appear to have molten interiors that mix with their atmospheres, blurring the line between solid and gaseous planets. With this in mind, the ERC-funded MagmaWorlds project aims to decode these exotic worlds by modelling how super-Earths evolve chemically and physically over billions of years. The project will simulate how magma oceans, volatile elements, and escaping gases interact. It will generate realistic spectra to guide upcoming space observations. Overall, MagmaWorlds will help scientists trace the chemical histories of planets beyond our solar system.
Objective
The first low-mass exoplanet spectra from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have toppled previous understanding on their internal structure and phase state, suggesting that mixing between the deep planetary interior and atmosphere affects key observables. A newly emerging class of volatile-rich exoplanets, bridging the classes of super-Earths and sub-Neptunes, promises to enhance observational insights into atmosphere-interior feedbacks but requires novel models to interpret and predict observables to distinguish different scenarios.
MagmaWorlds will chart the diverging evolutionary pathways of the emerging volatile-rich and volatile-poor super-Earth populations, and thus enable to trace the historical chemical evolution of super-Earth exoplanets.
My team and I will build a numerical framework of the chemical evolution of super-Earth exoplanets, bridging the ultra-hot conditions of atmosphere-stripped lava worlds with the climate of temperate volatile-rich super-Earths. This will allow us to carry out targeted simulations for the most observationally accessible low-mass exoplanet population. We will develop self-consistent planetary evolution sequences over geologic time, spatially resolving how mixed-phase interior structure, liquid-solid tidal forcing, and species-fractionating escape from primary (H-He-rich) to secondary (C-N-S) to rock vapour (Si-Mg-Fe-Na) atmospheres affect present-day exoplanet observables.
The MagmaWorlds project will deliver chemically and physically self-consistent spectra, C-H-N-S fractionation between interior and atmosphere, planet/star contrast ratio, transit/eclipse depth, and structural relations over billions of years that can be used to constrain the chemical evolutionary history of super-Earth exoplanets. The simulations will inform JWST, Ariel, and ELT observing proposals and the interpretation of observational data, opening time and internal chemical structure as new dimensions to inform and interpret exoplanet surveys.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences atmospheric sciences
- natural sciences computer and information sciences computational science
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences geophysics
- natural sciences physical sciences astronomy planetary sciences planets exoplanetology
- natural sciences physical sciences astronomy planetary sciences planets giant planets super-Earths
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-STG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
9712CP Groningen
Netherlands
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