From 29 November to 8 December, the ICTP (with the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology) will organise the Ibero-American School of Astrobiology at the Universidad Simon Bolivar, Caracas, Venezuela. The school will discuss the transition from inert matter to cellular life, examining the potential for organisms to exist elsewhere, especially within our solar system. More than 50 students from Latin American countries will attend. ICTP staff associate Julian Chela-Flores is organising and co-directing the activity.