Our team and mission

Reporting to the Head of the Explore Office in the ESA Φ-lab, you will work in close cooperation with other staff in the Directorate of Earth Observation Programmes.

The selected candidate will work within ESA ɸ-lab Division, an innovation lab of ESA Climate Action, Sustainability and Science Department, and report to the Head of the Φ-lab Explore Office (EOP-S8E). The Explore Office aims at promoting and implementing for disruptive and transformative innovation in Earth observation (EO).
The Φ-lab mission is to become an “EO innovation hub”, connecting EO with a growing ecosystem of disruptive and transformative innovation encompassing AI, ML, quantum computing, edge computing and more. Many of the challenges posed by new digital technologies still need to be tackled at scientific, application and capability level to deliver maximum value from satellite-derived EO assets for our climate, society and economy. The Φ-lab will bring together early career and senior researchers from a variety of disciplines across EO to help develop innovative EO solutions

You are encouraged to visit the ESA website: https://www.esa.int/

Field(s) of activity/research for the traineeship

This fellowship aims to explore the use of space and ground-based EO products integrated with disruptive technologies to address green solutions for a sustainable future. For example, you will deploy AI-automated algorithms to:

• identify suitable locations for new green energy facilities (such as on/offshore wind farms and solar power plants);
• forecast short-range renewable energy production for a hybrid energy system approach;
• quantify the uncertainty of low-cost real-time air sensing monitors;
• collect and harmonise data for operation in an intelligent digital system (digital twin);
• detect and quantify methane leakages from ‘institutional’ and ‘New Space’ satellite missions to monitor methane and other greenhouse gas emissions;
• detect natural disasters (such as wildfire ignition points and floods) through human sensor social networks (multimodal crowd sourcing and satellite imagery).

In particular, you will:

• undertake advanced research activities, exploring and expanding the use of disruptive/transformative innovation (AI, ML, quantum computing, edge computing, etc.) to develop new frameworks and solutions. Your research can cover a wide range of innovative topics, from the development of novel methods, algorithms and ML iterative pipelines to high-level products;
• contribute to the development and curation of open data sets and tools enabling the community to develop their own AI for applications and research;
• support the definition and implementation of rapid prototyping activities, research sprints and open challenges of innovative EO solutions addressing upcoming lab activities and wider strategy;
• engage with the innovation ecosystem to promote the uptake of new techniques and capture the latest developments in EO and disruptive/transformative innovation;
• publish the research project outcomes in high-impact journals;
• drive collaboration within the Φ-lab community and ESA internal teams to promote the uptake of these new techniques and solutions;
• contribute to the Φ-lab’s strategy, activities and outreach on disruptive technologies for EO;
• maintain a continuous dialogue with the scientific community, including major international programmes and initiatives in the fields of AI, ML, quantum computing and edge computing;
• support the Φ-lab research network of Young Graduate Trainees, national trainees, interns and visiting researchers, as applicable;
• ensure solid scientific content for a green and sustainable future.

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 (within the past five years) or be close to completing a PhD in a relevant field such as data science, AI, computer science, machine learning, Earth system science or climate, with the subject of your thesis being relevant to the description of the tasks outlined above.

Additional requirements

You should also have:

• sound knowledge of themes of interest, such as EO, AI, ML, quantum computing, ICT revolution technologies in general and edge computing
• the ability to think outside the box and explore new avenues, with natural curiosity and a passion for new subjects and research areas
• the ability to work in a multicultural environment as part of a team
• experience with one or more general purpose programming languages (e.g. Python) and with general purpose deep learning frameworks (e.g. Tensorflow or PyTorch)
• the ability to share knowledge with other ESA units

In your application, please provide a research proposal (of no more than five pages) answering the following questions:

1) What are the green solutions for a sustainable future that you would like to address?
2) What is your chosen disruptive technology?
3) Why is this research proposal important to society?

You should also have good interpersonal and communication skills and should be able to work in a multi-cultural environment, both independently and as part of a team.

Your motivation, overall professional perspective and career goals will also be explored during the later stages of the selection process.

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.