Project description
What cosmic rays and stellar flares reveal about exoplanets
Early exoplanet atmospheric models largely concentrated on photochemical reactions driven by X-ray and ultraviolet radiation. However, high-energy particles and phenomena, such as stellar energetic particles, galactic cosmic rays, stellar flares and corona mass ejections also drive complex reactions, sparking chemical disequilibrium and the formation of early organic molecules. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the EPICEA project aims to create comprehensive end-to-end simulation methods that explicitly account for highly energetic particles. The framework will combine models of particle transport with updated chemical kinetics models. Using this workflow, it will be able to derive the ionisation rates and model observable transmission and emission spectra.
Objective
Exoplanet atmospheres are shaped by the high-energy environments of their host stars. Beyond XUV photons, energetic particles (EPs)—Galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) and stellar energetic particles (SEPs) from flares and CMEs—drive ionisation, heating, and secondary radiation that alter chemistry and observables. With JWST now delivering the first hints of photochemical disequilibrium, robust interpretation requires time-resolved, star-specific EP forcing, which is largely absent from current models.
EPICEA will deliver the first end-to-end method linking stellar EP generation to exoplanet spectra. WP1 computes time- and energy-resolved SEP+GCR spectra at the planets magnetosphere boundary, using flare frequency distributions, CME statistics, and Parker-transport modelling across stellar mass, age, and activity sample. WP2 couples these fluxes to wind–magnetosphere simulations and field-aligned transport, producing precipitation/ionisation maps and multi-band auroral synthetic spectra (radio, UV, IR). WP3 propagates these inputs through photochemistry (STAND) and radiative transfer (petitRADTRANS) codes, quantifying disequilibrium tracers (e.g. HCN, C_2H_2, HNO_3, SO_2) and generating synthetic spectra.
The result will be a public library of datasets: fluxes, ionisation maps, chemistry responses, and spectral templates, tailored for JWST and Ariel. By explicitly including stellar variability and EP forcing, EPICEA aims to advance beyond scaled-solar approximations, opening new pathways to constrain star–planet interactions, the atmospheric evolution of sub-Neptunes, and the robustness of biosignatures of exoplanets around active stars.
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.
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.
- natural sciences chemical sciences physical chemistry photochemistry
- natural sciences physical sciences astronomy planetary sciences planets exoplanetology
- natural sciences physical sciences theoretical physics particle physics photons
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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.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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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
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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-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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4 Dublin
Ireland
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