Intern in the Copernicus Space Office

Our team and mission

This position is based at the ESA Centre for Earth Observation (ESRIN) - Frascati, Italy

The Copernicus Space Office is the interface for ESA’s Copernicus activities within and outside ESA, it ensures their coordination by the implementing departments and ensures the oversight of the Copernicus Space Component (CSC). 

The tasks of EOP-E include, in particular: 

• monitoring the Agency’s Copernicus activities and ensuring their coordination; 
• ensuring cooperation with the Commission in the implementation of Copernicus; 
• coordinating the implementation of the Agreements with the EU/Commission on Copernicus, including the reporting obligations to the Commission and ESA Member States, and support negotiations for any amendments; 
• initiating and coordinating ESA CSC Programme planning; 
• preparing Copernicus programmatic documents and supporting the necessary negotiations with the Commission, ESA Member States and other partners involved in the CSC; 
• coordinating the implementation of Copernicus activities resulting from the European Space Policy and related programmatic decisions on Copernicus; 
• supporting the implementation of Copernicus outreach and communication activities in the frame of the EOP communication strategy prepared and managed by EOP-C; 
• monitoring the Copernicus services and in-situ components and identifying issues relevant to the space component; 
• managing socioeconomic benefit studies to evaluate the impact of Copernicus on a European and global scale; 
• promoting Copernicus in its contribution to EU relevant policies and in organising user uptake activities; 
• interfacing with EUSPA for Copernicus matters. 

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

Field(s) of activity for the internship

Topic of the internship: Support to ESA Sentinels socio-economic benefits analyses

As part of the proposed internship, you will support the efforts of the Office to maintain and grow the evidence for the benefits generated by the Sentinel missions in view of feeding strategic advocacy efforts, supporting the implementation of Copernicus communication activities and contributing to the strategy, preparation of the evolution of the Copernicus Space Component and its system architecture.

Your tasks will include, in particular:

• Through desk research and (remote) attendance to conferences and interviews, document about significant users and uses of Copernicus Sentinels data, analysing and reporting on most promising case studies within selected users communities and application areas. Note that the selection of the use cases and application areas can be agreed with the Agency also taking into account the relevance for your own interests and area of expertise (e.g. green transition, environmental compliance…). 
• Support the Office Copernicus User Expert in tasks related to the assessment of socio-economic-regulatory benefits generated by the use of Copernicus Sentinels data and in relationship with the activities of the Sentinel Benefits Observatory, with a view to validate findings and explore enlarged perspectives relevant for EU and international policies.

With the proposed internship, you will acquire a general understanding about ESA role in Copernicus, core Sentinel applications and derived benefits, work in an international framework and you will acquire a forward-looking perspective on the future of the Programme.

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 must be a university student, preferably in your final or second-to-last year of a university course at Master’s level and you need to remain enrolled at your University for the entire duration of the internship.

Additional requirements

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.

Knowledge and background in sustainable development and impact assessments is a plus.

Experience with Copernicus data and or derived products is an asset.