Prof. Michel Mayor

2019 Nobel Laureate for Physics and Emeritus Professor at Geneva University in Geneva/Switzerland

Prof. Mayor’s research is hoped to bring about the discovery of a “second Earth”, a habitable planet with the potential to support life.

Biography:

Prof. Michel Gustave Édouard Mayor is Emeritus Professor at Geneva University and researcher at the Observatory of Geneva who was awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize for Physics as being the first person, together with his student Prof. Didier Queloz, to find a planet orbiting a Sun-like star outside of our solar system. Until recently the solar system has provided us with the only basis for our knowledge of planets and life in the universe. In 1995 Professors Mayor and Queloz have dramatically changed this view with the discovery of the first giant planet outside the solar system. This seminal discovery and the development of new astronomical equipment and observational approaches has spawned a revolution in astronomy both in terms of new instrumentation and understanding of planet formation and evolution, and over more than two decades after this discovery thousands of extra-solar planets have become known. In the future Professor Mayor’s research is expected to bring about a succession of new scientific milestones such as the discovery of a “second Earth”, a habitable planet with the potential to support life.

Topic of keynote speech:

• Is there a Planet B – Will humanity emigrate to an exoplanet?

Schedule:

Thursday, January 22, 2026:

14:00 Public keynote speech and dialogue at Academia Sinica in Taipei

Further information and free seat reservation via phone +886-2-2789-9380 or email
emma@as.edu.tw