"In the last decades we have obtained a better and better understanding about the limits of life on Earth. One example is the dry limit of life which will be demonstrated in the talk by presenting the newest research results from the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert. But are these assumptions and results also valid when searching for life on an extraterrestrial body such as Mars? If so, where would we search for life on Mars? And if we search for life on an extraterrestrial body, would we only expect to find microbial life, or is there also a chance to find complex, multicellular life? These are some of the questions that will be addressed in the presentation." Dirk Schulze-Makuch is professor for astrobiology at the Technische Universität Berlin. The focus of his professorship is planetary habitability, i.e. the investigation of conditions for the preservation of life on planetary bodies like the Earth. His current research focus is the project Dry Limit of Life, which focuses on the study of extremophilic organisms in the Atacama Desert. Dirk Schulze-Makuch is Chairman of the Board of the German Astrobiological Society.