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Young Graduate Trainee in Space Safety - Planetary Defence

Frascati

  • Organization: ESA - European Space Agency
  • Location: Frascati
  • Grade: Level not specified - Level not specified
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Outer space and satellite technology
    • Security and Safety
  • Closing Date: Closed

EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY

Young Graduate Trainee in Space Safety - Planetary Defence

Job Req ID:  17280
Closing Date:  28 February 2023 23:59 CET/CEST
Establishment:  ESRIN, Frascati, Italy
Directorate:  Directorate of Operations
Publication:  External Only
Vacancy Type:  Young Graduate Trainee
Date Posted:  1 February 2023

 

Young Graduate Opportunity in the Directorate of Operations

 

ESA is an equal opportunity employer, committed to achieving diversity within the workforce and creating an inclusive working environment. We therefore welcome applications from all qualified candidates irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, beliefs, age, disability or other characteristics. Applications from women are encouraged.

 

This post is classified F1 on the Coordinated Organisations’ salary scale.

 

Location

ESRIN, Frascati, Italy 

 

Our team and mission

The ESA Space Safety Programme Office takes care of all potential hazards from or in space, which can impact human activities on Earth or in space. The spectrum of tasks involves developing a basic understanding of space hazards originating from our Sun, man-made space debris, or  asteroids potentially colliding with Earth. The Office also examines basic approaches to mitigating these hazards and implementing space systems end-to-end in a sustainable and eco-compatible way. Moreover, several corner-stone missions are under way to demonstrate basic methods of space weather forecasting, asteroid deflection and active space debris removal from orbit.

 

The Planetary Defence Office (PDO) addresses the “…prediction and detection [of] the potential impact of a near-Earth object (NEO)”. The following information needs for NEO monitoring have been defined:

  • knowledge of the current and future positions of all near-Earth objects above a given size threshold or risk level, in particular their minimum fly-by distance to the Earth and time of this event;
  • maintained awareness of collision risks with the Earth;
  • access to verifiable, dependable and timely data with integrity and known accuracy.

 

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

Field(s) of activity/research for the traineeship

At the Planetary Defence Office, we monitor and predict the orbits of all known Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs) up to 100 years into the future. Accounting for limits in measurement accuracy and quasi-random perturbations, we then check the probabilities of any given NEA colliding with Earth in that timeframe. While this is a very computation-heavy task for our main system (named “Aegis” after the shield of Zeus), we also check newly discovered objects for the immediate or short-term probability of an impact. For this purpose, we use a relatively lightweight system (named “Meerkat”), which needs to be able to deduce key parameters in a minimum amount of time.

 

As a Young Graduate Trainee, you will become familiar with Meerkat and contribute to its maintenance and improvement.

Technical competencies

Knowledge of relevant technical domains
Relevant experience gained during internships/project work
Breadth of exposure coming from past and/or current research/activities
Knowledge of ESA and its programmes/projects

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 physics, mathematics, astronomy or a related engineering discipline.

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.

 

You should be comfortable working with programming languages such as Python and with the use of common programming environments.

 

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, your motivation and overall professional career goals will also be explored. 

 

Other information

For behavioural competencies expected from ESA staff in general, please refer to the ESA Competency Framework.

 

For further information on the Young Graduate Programme please visit: Young Graduate Programme and FAQ Young Graduate Programme

 

At the Agency we value diversity and we welcome people with disabilities. Whenever possible, we seek to accommodate individuals with disabilities by providing the necessary support at the workplace. The Human Resources Department can also provide assistance during the recruitment process. If you would like to discuss this further please contact us email contact.human.resources@esa.int.

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Please note that applications are only considered from nationals of one of the following States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Nationals from Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia, as  Associate Member States, or Canada as a Cooperating State, can apply as well as those from Bulgaria and Cyprus as European Cooperating States (ECS).

According to the ESA Convention, the recruitment of staff must take into account an adequate distribution of posts among nationals of the ESA Member States*. When short-listing for an interview, priority will first be given to candidates from under-represented or balanced Member States*. 

 

In accordance with the European Space Agency’s security procedures and as part of the selection process, successful candidates will be required to undergo basic screening before appointment conducted by an external background screening service. 

*Member States, Associate Members or Cooperating States.

This vacancy is now closed.
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