Our team and mission

The ESA Academy is the agency’s overarching programme for university student space projects and training opportunities.Through a tailored transfer of space know-how and interaction with space professionals, the Academy takes students
through a learning path that complements their academic education.
The ESA Academy programme comprises of three main segments:

• An academic Training programme which offers individuals a portfolio of highly qualifying training sessions covering a wide range of space-related topics offered by professional experts;
• A Projects programme, allowing teams to design build, test and operate small satellites and payload experiments on space-related platforms, among others through the ESA Academy Experiments programme;
• An Engagement programme, providing students with funding opportunities, joint learning activities and networking opportunities. It encompasses mechanisms to offer access to ESA expertise;

Specifically, ESA Academy Engagement is an initiative offering structured collaboration models both within ESA and externally with academia, industry and research institutes to contribute together to the preparation of the future talents in terms of knowledge, skills, and competences, through joint opportunities for tertiary education students from ESA Member and Associate States. The programme includes the following activities:

• The Conference Student Sponsorship programme facilitating the access to European conferences offering a space-related thematic by contributing to students registration fee, travel and accommodation costs.
• The Short Course Scholarship programme facilitating access to space-related short duration learning opportunities by contributing to students registration fee, travel, and accommodation costs.
• The Academic Scholarship programme facilitating access to space-related academic programmes of higher education institutions by covering the tuition fees.
• The Careers for You initiative where ESA representatives attend educational and careers event as well as international conferences to meet students and professionals from across different backgrounds and attract them to the space sector.
• The Book a Space Pro programme helping external entities, like universities and student associations, to get in contact with ESA experts in support of different kinds of educational and inspirational initiatives.
• The Collaboration programme offering partnership opportunities to organise joint learning activities like challenges and hackathons.

ESA’s ESEC-Galaxia site in Belgium hosts several facilities tailored for the ESA Academy, including the CubeSat Support Facility, a cleanroom hosting integration and test equipment for CubeSats and experiments, and the Training and Learning Facility, a state-of-the art training room also equipped to support Concurrent Engineering workshops.
Information on the activities of the ESA Academy can be found at https://www.esa.int/Education/ESA_Academy.

You are encouraged to visit the ESA website: http://www.esa.int

Field(s) of activity/research for the traineeship

You will support the ESA Academy Engagement team in the development and expansion of its network at European level and in the establishment of a network of contact points for tertiary education within the ESA Member States. You will contribute to the reinforcement of the ESA Academy in its collaborations with external entities, including academia, student associations, industrial players, and research institutions. To that end, you will support the build-up of new partnerships and the organisation of joint learning activities and sponsorship opportunities.
In particular, you will support:

• the design and implementation of the ESA Academy representatives’ network, a community of students and young professionals who are or have participated in ESA Academy programme and share their experiences, knowledge, and insights with others as well as promote ESA and ESA Academy opportunities.
• the evolution of the Book a Space Pro programme from pilot phase to full operation.
• the implementation of the SME Internship Support programme and launch of the pilot edition.
• the organisation of the next European Space for Education Conference.
• the ESA Academy contribution to a Network of Universities in ESA Member and Associate States, aimed to reinforce collaboration between ESA and universities in the field of space education, research, and innovation and contribute together to Europe’s competitiveness in space and its strategic autonomy.
• further development, management and coordination of the Conference Sponsorship programme, Short Course Scholarship programme and Academic Scholarship programme.
• the promotion of the Engagement activities on social media, the updates of Engagement webpages on ESA website and the preparation of web articles.
• the management of the Engagement databases and upgrade of the programme documentation and web pages.

You will additionally contribute to ESA Academy outreach activities and will also be involved in additional technical and managerial tasks to further develop the programme. As YGT you may also assist other activities of the ESA Academy, as required.

Technical competencies

Behavioural competencies

Result Orientation

Operational Efficiency

Fostering Cooperation

Relationship Management

Continuous Improvement

Forward Thinking

For more information, please refer to ESA Core Behavioural Competencies guidebook

Education

You should have recently completed or be in the final year of your master’s degree.

Additional requirements

Applicants should be able to demonstrate excellent communication and organisational skills, the ability to follow multiple concurrent activities and a proactive approach to programme coordination. Experience in international relations and stakeholders management is an asset.

Noting the location of this traineeship, it is recommended that you have access to a car for the duration of the appointment.

You should have good interpersonal and communication skills and be able to work in a multicultural environment, both independently and as part of a team. Previous experience of working in international teams can be considered an asset. Your motivation, overall professional perspective and career goals will also be explored during the later stages of the selection process.