Our team and mission

This Traineeship will be conducted in the planetary sciences group. This includes the Project Scientists for ESA’s planetary sciences missions – missions such as Mars Express, JUICE, Bepi Colombo, EnVision – as well as Research Fellows and Young Graduate Trainees working on various diverse research topics. Most are located at ESTEC in the Netherlands, although some are also located at ESAC in Spain. For planetary radio occultation, we also work with external partners in various ESA member states.

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

Field(s) of activity/research for the traineeship

Radio signals, like light, experience refraction. This effect is used to measure the properties of atmospheres and ionospheres, in particular the vertical profiles of atmospheric pressure and temperature, and ionospheric electron densities.

This so-called radio occultation technique can be used either when radio signals are transmitted from one spacecraft to another – as is now done routinely on Earth using transmissions from navigations satellites – or from a planetary spacecraft to receiving stations on Earth.

This project will use data from ESA’s two spacecraft currently orbiting Mars: Mars Express (MEx) and the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO). There are a number of projects which in this field  you could work on, including:

• Analysis of spacecraft-to-Earth radio occultation from the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) to Earth;
• Analysis of spacecraft-to-spacecraft radio occultation from Mars Express (MEx) to TGO, which is now being conducted routinely;
• Optimisation of spacecraft-to-spacecraft radio occultations in future Mars orbiters;
• Analysis of the data obtained for study of the ionosphere and/or neutral atmosphere.

You will inherit software codes for both spacecraft-to-spacecraft and spacecraft-to-Earth radio occultations, but will further develop this software for their specific applications. For example, a robust approach for estimating the uncertainties in retrieved properties is still be developed.

Besides your research topic, you will have the opportunity to observe (and potentially work with):

• the Science Operations Centres of the Mars Express and Trace Gas Orbiter missions, to optimise the radio occultation observation planning;
• ESA’s Planetary Science Archive, for the public distribution of the radio occultation analysis data;
• Future Mars mission studies – dependent on which planetary mission studies are ongoing at the time of the traineeship.

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 Engineering, Physics, Computing or applied mathematics.

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.

Background in computing programming for scientific analysis would be an advantage.

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.