Applications now open for the 2015 Alpbach summer school

Held annually since 1975, the Alpbach Summer School enjoys a long tradition in providing in-depth teaching on different topics of space science and technology, with the aim of advancing the training and working experience of European graduates, post-graduates, young scientists and engineers.

The purpose of the Summer School is to foster the practical application of knowledge derived from lectures, to develop organisational and group skills, and to encourage creativity. Teams will compete to design the best project and will be judged by an independent jury of experts.

This year 60 students and graduates in engineering and science from  ESA’s Member and Cooperating states* will be selected to participate in the 39th edition of the Alpbach Summer School .

During ten days, participants will attend stimulating lectures on various aspects of space science and technology, and will work intensely to define and design a space mission, all under the supervision of noted scientific and engineering experts within the field..

Students will be split into 4 teams. Each team will design a space mission aiming to investigate how satellite missions could help develop and enrich quantum physics research, or how future satellite missions could benefit from quantum physics.

Student teams will elaborate the design of a space mission in order to make discoveries in gravitational wave astrophysics and to verify the fundamental principle of equivalence in Einstein’s theory of General Relativity.

On the last day of the Summer School, each team will present a short mission study to a  panel of experts, as well as to  all the other teams, tutors and lecturers.

The selected Summer School students will be exposed to some real-life challenges, such as 20-hour working days (before proposal submission) and an expectation that they are able to immediately apply knowledge and techniques that they have only recently been exposed to. They will also have to handle the trials of establishing and maintaining an international and multi-disciplinary team composed of both scientists and engineers. They will need to balance scientific objectives and requirements with the realistic constraints of mission design, spacecraft design, and mission cost. The working language will be English. Occasionally study  designs presented on the last day have actually gone on to represent real space missions at ESA.

The Alpbach Summer School is open for application to students and graduates from ESA Member and Cooperating states.

Application Deadline: 31 March  2015

Online Application: www.summerschoolalpbach.at

The Alpbach Summer School is organised by the Aeronautics and Space Agency of the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG). It is co-sponsored by ESA and the national space authorities of its Member and Cooperating States. A traditional partner is the International Space Science Institute (ISSI). It is also supported by Austrospace, the association of Austrian space industries and research institutions.