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 pillar, providing students and young professionals with scholarship, conference and networking opportunities.

Specifically, the Training programme offers an expanding portfolio of space-related training sessions in different fields of ESA expertise, with the objective to complement academic studies, and to better prepare university students for a space-related career. These include 1- to 2-week training sessions on different topics of ESA expertise including but not limited to Space Systems Engineering, Earth Observation, Space Debris, Navigation, Telecommunications, Cybersecurity, Space Law and Space Medicine. New trainings are constantly being developed and in the immediate future include topics such as ‘Access to Space -Launchers’, ‘Climate Change and Space Data’ among others. ESA Academy also offers CubeSat Summer Schools which are four-week long trainings covering all aspects of CubeSat missions from design to operations and business applications, typically delivered in August. To complement the on-site trainings, a state of-the-art e-learning platform in support of both the Training and Projects programmes is being developed which will give access to ESA training material to a wider audience.

The ESA Academy, as part of the ESA Education Office, operates in close cooperation with specialists from ESA and industry, from university departments and other research organisations. 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, as well as the Training and Learning Facility, a state-of-the-art training room equipped to support Concurrent Engineering workshops and the delivery of training courses.

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

As a Young Graduate Trainee, you will be involved in supporting all phases and aspects of selected training courses offered by ESA Academy. In particular, for new developments, establishing the design and didactic methodologies, the coordination of the development of teaching material, supporting the delivery of the courses and finally the assessment of the course by analysis of feedback from trainers and students alike.

Under the guidance of the ESA Programme Manager, you will specifically support:

• the interfacing with ESA experts and external experts,
• the development of training content and material for new training sessions,
• the preparation of the calls for applications and the coordination of the selection process,
• the organisation of the training sessions and the related logistics,
• the delivery of the training sessions, by attending most of the lectures,
• the use and maintenance of the training material database,
• the use and improvement of ESA Academy’s Concurrent Engineering Facility,
• the development and implementation of the e-learning platform,
• the usage of the ESAT satellite hardware models, including the testing and preparation of the different subsystems and control system,
• the development of new tertiary education activities and topics.

You will also be involved in additional managerial tasks to further develop the programme, as well as have the opportunity to contribute to other student activities and projects of the ESA Academy, as required.

Technical competencies

Behavioural competencies

Result Orientation

Operational Efficiency

Fostering Cooperation

Relationship Management

Continuous Improvement

Forward Thinking

Education

You should have just completed, or be in the final year of your Master’ s degree in a scientific or technical discipline, preferably with a background in one or more space-related disciplines.

Additional requirements

You should have good interpersonal and communication skills and should be able to work in a multicultural environment, both independently and as part of a team.

Knowledge of, or experience with:
- new technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, VR/AR/XR, Internet of Things and cybersecurity
- e-learning systems management is considered an asset.

Noting the location of this role, and the need to be flexible with daily travel due to participation in campaigns and training delivery it is strongly recommended that you have access to a car for the duration of this appointment.

The working languages of the Agency are English and French. A good knowledge of one of these is required. Knowledge of another Member State language would be an asset.

During the interview motivation and overall professional perspective/career goals will also be explored.