A Students Guide To The Galaxy (Through ESA)

Why you should consider apply

There are many ways to start and develop a career in space. Getting an education in the field is the most traditional one, but even without the specific title on your certificate, you can still work with space in many ways!
ESA Academy places students on a learning path that complements their academic education through a personalized transfer of space know-how and engagement with space experts. Therefore, students may improve their abilities, increase their motivation and goals, learn about current professional practices in the space industry, and be more equipped for the job market.

Internship opportunities

Students in their last or second-to-last year of a Master's degree in technical or non-technical disciplines can be eligible for three to six-month internships with ESA. You should ideally be in your last or second-to-last year of a Master's degree program. For the period of the internship, you must hold student status and be enrolled at a university. You should also be a citizen of one of the ESA member states

Why you should apply for an internship at ESA

An internship at ESA can provide fascinating and highly valuable experiences that may lead to a career in Europe's space sector, prestigious research institutes, or, of course, ESA. Skills that are acquired whilst working in an international, multicultural, and multidisciplinary workplace are highly sought after in today’s market, and you could gain invaluable lessons by applying. The internships are unpaid but depending on your residence an allowance between 300-600 euros will be given. Insurance, accommodation, and travel expenses are the responsibilities of the student.

The disciplines lie within a huge range such as Mechanical engineering (optical, propulsion, thermal, mechanisms, structures, materials, robotics), Electrical engineering (RF, power & data systems, antennas, microelectronics, EMC, components), System engineering, Software engineering, Applied mathematics and many more. You can set up an alert to be notified for new opportunities here and you can always check current available opportunities here.

Important dates:

The call for applications starts in November, while the selection of candidates happens during December/January/February. The internship itself can start from anywhere between February to October of the following year.

What you need to apply

• Find a match that best suits your background and interests
• Register and create a profile with your CV and a motivational letter to the specific opportunity
• Include a recommendation letter if possible. 
  
  

Tips for your application:

Read through our openings carefully before applying, and focus your attention on one that matches your interests and background. In your motivation letter, express your passion, interests, and excitement – but do so in a straightforward and simple manner. Please carefully answer the questions on the application form; they are necessary for us to understand more about your background.

ESA academy

 

ESA Academy is a supplement to academic education that is provided in close partnership with European institutions. Its goal is to improve students' educational experiences by providing them with both practical and theoretical knowledge and expertise in a variety of fields, including space sciences, engineering, space medicine, spacecraft operations, project and risk management, product and quality assurance, standardization, and more.
ESA Academy, which was officially inaugurated in March 2016, brings together the parts of the ESA Education Programme for universities under two interrelated pillars of activity:

Hands-on Space Projects is an ongoing program that allows university students to have hands-on experience with space-related projects from start to finish. This includes projects as Fly Your Satellite! , ESEO, the European Student Earth Orbiter, Fly Your Thesis!, Drop Your Thesis!, Orbit Your Thesis, Spin Your Thesis! , Fly A Rocket! and more!

The Training and Learning Programme is a program that provides university students with a variety of training sessions and learning opportunities.
The ESA Academy's Training and Learning Programme, which began in 2016, is designed to provide a diverse portfolio of training sessions delivered by space experts from all ESA domains of competence, as well as from academia and the space industry, including Space engineering, Space sciences, Space medicine, Spacecraft operations and communication, Project and risk management, and many more. Read more here.

Other possibilities

ESA has made a very informative flow chart that can be found here to help with navigating your possibilities. 

Do you have an entrepreneur hidden inside you?

Denmark has joined ESA's pan-European network of Business Incubation Centres as the 21st member. The incubator is led by The Technical University of Denmark (DTU), in collaboration with the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science, the Universities of Aalborg and Aarhus, The Danish Industry Foundation, and other academic, science park, and industry partners, as well as Danish government agencies. SDU is also a part of the collaboration

The Danish ESA BIC's major goal is to build and enhance communities of successful space-related start-ups in Denmark by sponsoring 40 start-ups between 2020 and 24. The activities will make a substantial contribution to the development of space-based clusters in Denmark.
ESA BIC's aims are to create jobs and promote regional economies in their Member States through the ESA BIC program. ESA BICs have been nurturing space-related business concepts into commercial firms since 2000, with ESA Space Solutions providing technical knowledge and business development support.
Learn more here.