The basic structures and compositions of our solar system were set during its First Billion Years — a time of planetary accretion and differentiation, intense impact bombardment, and the beginnings of habitable environments. To encourage transdisciplinary study of this formative era, the Lunar and Planetary Institute is excited to announce a new initiative: The First Billion Years.

The initiative’s core will be a coordinated series of topical conferences, 2017–2019, emphasizing fundamental processes during The First Billion Years: Accretion, Differentiation, Bombardment, and the Rise of Habitability. These conferences will include input from all relevant disciplines, provide venues for cross-fertilization of ideas across disciplinary boundaries, and facilitate major advances in our understanding of that seminal time. Beyond the conferences, we anticipate spinoffs of special sessions at other meetings, focused special publications, and topical workshops.