Announcement of opportunities for the ESA Academy Experiments programme
University students are invited to submit proposals for science and technical experiments as part of the ESA Academy Experiments programme. The programme offers free training, coaching and consultation prior to submitting an experiment proposal, and, in an exciting new development, includes two new platforms to choose from! Now, both ESA’s Space Rider and the Orbital Robotics Laboratory at ESA ESTEC in the Netherlands are accessible through the ESA Academy Experiments programme as well. The deadline to submit proposals is Saturday 2 December 2023 at 23:59 CET.
An exciting new opportunity for university students to participate in hands-on activities within the ESA Academy Experiment programme is now open. The format is designed to help and guide all students through four distinct phases briefly described below.
Listen and Learn
This first phase is all about providing information to students about experimentation in space- and ground- based research platforms. Students are therefore invited to view the video-based trainings and information sessions available via the About page.
Consult and Confer
The second phase is all about consolidating the teams’ experiment idea. Whilst writing their proposals, teams have the opportunity to freely contact ESA Academy for advice. No relevant topic is off limits, and no questions remain unanswered! ESA Academy is here to help all students.
Submit and Succeed
Experiment proposals are submitted for review, marking the beginning of the third phase. Panels of industry professionals and ESA experts appraise and rank the teams based on the documentation. Then, shortlisted teams are subsequently called to present their projects live to the selection panels allowing for in-depth discussions with the team. The selection panels advise ESA Academy on the teams to be selected.
Perform and Publish
The selected teams immediately start the fourth and final phase of the programme by transforming their experiment idea into a tangible reality with the continued guidance and counselling of ESA and partners. Within one year or so, depending on the programme, the teams will have gone from concept/idea in their minds to tangible hardware, learning much about the design, review, building and testing processes along the way.
If this exciting opportunity sounds interesting to you, be sure to read through all pages in the ESA Academy Experiments website, with particular focus on the How to Apply page and the Current Schedule page. If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to contact us at academy.experiments@esa.int.
