Microorganisms are the simplest living creatures among the variety of life forms known to us, and microbial communities are the most ancient biological systems on Earth. The evolution of living organisms on Earth is, first of all, the evolution of microbial communities, which are mainly responsible for the formation of our geospheric-biospheric system. Moreover, it is microbial life that is considered as the main target in the framework of the concept of the search for extraterrestrial life. Initiated by our VP, Oleg Kotsyurbenko, together with member Vladimir Kompanichenko, NoRCEL’s Microbial World network aims to focus on the study of a key transformation during the origin of life, or, put another way - the moment of the emergence of life in prebiotic microsystems and their associations.