Our team and mission

ESA maintains a world-leading Science Programme with missions in heliophysics, planetary science, astrophysics and fundamental physics. Its mission is to 'empower Europe to lead space science'. The Department for Science and Operations hosts the scientists and engineers that oversee the space missions, from study to end of operations. It develops the science operation systems for the missions and operates the missions in space, as well as archiving and curating their data during operations and beyond. Our main objective is to maximise the scientific output of the missions for the benefit of humankind.

A typical science operations centre is responsible for the coordination and planning of science operations, the processing of science data and science data archiving. It also supports the science instrument teams (external to ESA) in the definition of operations concepts and with instrument calibration activities. 

EnVision is a mission to Venus, currently under study and expected to be formally adopted by the agency in 2024 and launched in 2031. It is an ESA-led mission in partnership with NASA. EnVision will be the first mission to investigate Venus from its inner core to its upper atmosphere, seeking to answer questions on the planet’s history, evolution, activity, and climate.

The Department for Science and Operations will begin defining the science operations centre for the EnVision mission in 2025.

The Department also is involved with ESA Datalabs, a new and open platform for science data exploitation, data pipeline management and collaborative research. See datalabs.esa.int for more information.

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, youwill work within the Science Operations Development Division at ESAC, near Madrid, contributing to the EnVision science operations study.

Within the Division, you will contribute to the EnVision project by evaluating the suitability of open platforms such as ESA Datalabs for supporting the following collaborative tasks between ESA and the EnVision Instrument Teams:

• Development of science and auxiliary data processing pipelines;
• Management, running and hosting of science and auxiliary data processing pipelines;
• Development of software to generate quicklook data (automated generation of generally low resolution, uncalibrated data)
• Development of software to visualise quicklook data;
• Sharing of such quicklook data among the EnVision community.

You will demonstrate the suitability of the platforms by creating protypes, estimating the required effort and identifying advantages/disadvantages and risks.

You will research existing pipelines and quicklook services on other ESAC science missions (BepiColombo, TGO, Cluster) and look for potential synergies with Earth observation missions.

You will also assess the suitability of the Datalabs framework for supporting other tasks under the Division’s responsibility.

You will work with experts on planetary data and planetary data archives, and the Data Science Section. You will acquire knowledge of the NASA planetary data standard (PDS4) and the ESA planetary science archive. You will see how a future ESA science mission is defined, and how trade-offs are achieved.

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 an engineering or science 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 also have experience of working with Python and Jupyter Notebooks. 

Knowledge of data processing and/or science data visualisation 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, your motivation and overall professional career goals will also be explored.