Is there life beyond Earth? This question intrigues humanity and could be answered in the coming decades. We are preparing ourselves for the discovery of life on exoplanets by measuring and simulating the light reflected from Earth. This will allow us to test new detection methods for specialised instruments on future space telescopes. We consider the ultimate sign of life to be the homochirality of biological molecules, which can be observed remotely in the form of circular polarisation. With the help of measured polarisation signals from a wide range of surfaces (for example rocks, glaciers and vegetation) we are developing a realistic model for the analysis of light signals from exoplanets with life. ( Credits)