Our team and mission

This position is based at the European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) – Near Madrid, Spain

Under the direct authority of the Director of Science, the Science and Operations Department is responsible for ensuring that maximum scientific return, within applicable constraints, is maintained as an objective for the Directorate’s missions through their lifetime, by providing scientific oversight of the Directorate’s missions throughout their lifecycle, managing and being responsible for the operation of the Directorate’s missions once successfully commissioned, and curating the scientific data in their legacy phase, while establishing and maintaining the necessary science interfaces to the community. These responsibilities are discharged in full coordination with the Directorate’s Departments and Offices and, as appropriate, with the Directorate of Operations.

In implementing its duties, the Science and Operations Department is supported by the:

• Science Division
• Mission Operations Division
• Science Operations Development Division
• Data Science and Archive Division
• Mission Support Office

For further information visit our web site: http://www.esa.int

Field(s) of activity for the internship

You can choose between the following topics:

1) Topic 1: Continuous design of Multimedia, Web and Social Media contents for CESAR

CesaR (Cooperation through Education in Science and Astronomy Research) is a joint educational programme developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), the Spanish National Institute for Aerospace Technology (INTA) and the public company ISDEFE. It is based at ESA’s European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) in Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain. Its main goal is to provide students and teachers from European schools with hands-on educational materials and resources about Astrophysics and Space Sciences, to be carried out in the classroom, as well as easy access to ESA´s data archive and to optical and radio telescopes.

This internship aims at designing and creating new multimedia contents for the CESAR educational resources, to make them more engaging and attractive for young audiences. Also, to share them with national and international teachers through our teacher trainings. Regarding web and social media content, a yearly strategy needs to be developed to identify the most relevant moments for content sharing, given the different events organized by the project throughout the year. Aside from creation of audiovisual materials, analysis and monitoring of the impact of these will be also an important task for this internship.

For more information on this topic, please visit: Continuous design of Multimedia, Web and Social Media contents for CESAR

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2) Topic 2: Digital transformation of the CESAR Space Science Experiences – II

CesaR (Cooperation through Education in Science and Astronomy Research) is a joint educational programme developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), the Spanish National Institute for Aerospace Technology (INTA) and the public company ISDEFE. It is based at ESA’s European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) in Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain. Its main goal is to provide students and teachers from European schools with hands-on educational materials and resources about Astrophysics and Space Sciences, to be carried out in the classroom, as well as easy access to ESA´s data archive and to optical and radio telescopes.

The CESAR Team is undergoing a continuous process of transformation of its digital educational materials, currently hosted in the project´s website, adapting them to new formats which are more engaging for the students, such as online labs, VR applications and e-learning platforms. In this context, we follow the principles and guidelines already established by our colleagues from ESA Education, with whom the CESAR team is in regular contact.

The update of the materials pursues a second goal: to ensure they are accessible, inclusive, and diverse. A revision of all these aspects started already in 2023 and will be continued in 2024. This internship will have a dual dimension, working toward the transformation of the educational resources and their revision from an inclusion perspective.

For more information on this topic, please visit: Digital transformation of the CESAR Space Science Experiences – II

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3) Topic 3: Support of Remote Operations of CESAR Solar and Night-Sky Telescopes

CesaR (Cooperation through Education in Science and Astronomy Research) is a joint educational programme developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), the Spanish National Institute for Aerospace Technology (INTA) and the public company ISDEFE. It is based at ESA’s European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) in Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain. Its main goal is to provide students and teachers from European schools with hands-on educational materials and resources about Astrophysics and Space Sciences, to be carried out in the classroom, as well as easy access to ESA´s data archive and to optical and radio telescopes. During 2023, the CESAR Solar Observatory has been put in remote operation mode, allowing daily images of the Sun to be obtained in a semi-automatic way and stored in our public data base, so it can be easily shared with schools participating of the CESAR Space Science Experiences. The next step for the Solar Observatory is to improve the correct and automated process of the data, developing a pipeline for this purpose in Python.

On the other hand, also in 2023, a detail status check of the night sky observatories was performed and basic maintenance improvements are being undertaken. In 2024, we will be ready for putting them into remote operation and start using them with selected teachers and their classrooms. For this purpose, specific observational case will need to be designed, adjusted to the capabilities of the telescope and the different educational level.

The main tasks for this internship will be to work on:

• Development of a pipeline for image-processing of the solar telescope as well as,
• Remotization of the night telescopes and creation of observational cases.

For more information on this topic, please visit: Support of Remote Operations of CESAR Solar and Night-Sky Telescopes

Behavioural competencies

Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward Thinking

Education

You must have student status and be enrolled at university for the entire duration of the internship. You should preferably be in your final or second to last year of a university course at master’s level in a technical or scientific discipline.

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.

Additional Requirements:

1) Topic 1:

• Interest in Planetary Science, Space Science and Communications
• General multimedia and Social Media knowledge
• Knowledge of graphic design and basic HTML
• Knowledge of developing VR projects
• Good level of editing pictures and videos
• Good level of English and Spanish, spoken and written, is required
• Good communication skills
• Good understanding of astronomical concepts
• Familiarity with inclusive and diverse environments
• Creativity, Capable of working in international teams and alone
• Capable of meeting milestones within schedules

2) Topic 2:

• Good understanding of astronomical concepts
• Pedagogical skills, experience working with primary and secondary school-level students
• Experience designing education materials for inclusive and diverse audiences
• Knowledge of developing VR projects and e-learning platforms
• Capable of working in international teams
• Fluent in English (reading and writing)
• Creative, capable to meet milestones within schedules

3) Topic 3:

• Good knowledge of physics and mathematics and understanding of astronomical concepts
• Practical experience in Python programming and UNIX environments
• Experience with image processing
• Knowledge of programs for astronomical equipment control (dome, mount, cameras…) in particular ASCOM, Talon, Indi…
• Knowledge in astronomical equipment for ground-based observatories
• Practical experience in amateur observing would be an asset
• Capable of working in international teams
• Fluent in English (reading and writing)
• Capable of meeting milestones within schedules