ESA Graduate Trainee in the ESA Academy Training Programme

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:

• A 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 programme, providing students and young professionals with scholarship, conference andnetworking 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 spacerelated
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 also developed and in the immediate future include topics such as ‘Climate Action’ will be developed.
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 has been
developed which gives 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 an ESA Graduate Trainee, you will be involved in supporting all phases and aspects of selected training courses offered
by ESA Academy. For existing and new developments, reviewing 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 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
• the development and implementation of the e-learning platform, ESA Learn
• assisting in the coordination of e-learning courses. In particular, helping liaise between ESA experts and third-party external content developers
• additional duties may also include supporting activities in your field of competence

You will also be involved in additional managerial tasks to further develop the programme, and 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

For more information, please refer to ESA Core Behavioural Competencies guidebook

Education

You should have recently 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. Previous experience of working in international teams can be considered an asset. Your motivation, overall professional perspective and career goals will also be explored during the later stages of the selection process.

Considered as an asset is knowledge of, or experience with:

• new technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, VR/AR/XR, Internet of Things and/or cybersecurity
• e-learning systems management 

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.