Students who would like to participate in “Spin Your Thesis!” must comply with the following criteria at the time of the application:

• aged 18 to 28;
• a citizen from an ESA Member or Cooperating State*;
• a full-time student in a university from an ESA Member or Cooperating State* studying a scientific or engineering subject.

Conditions for participation

One important condition is that the experiment is an integral part of the students’ syllabus. This can be through a Master’s Thesis, a PhD Thesis, a research programme or any form of project supported by the applicants’ university. Applicants must be able to show they have their university’s support through a letter of endorsement from their endorsing professor or academic supervisor.

Teams will be composed of two to four students. At least two team members will have to comply with the condition of involvement in the syllabus (see above) and all must fulfil the eligibility criteria. The final number of members in the teams to participate in the experiments (should the team be selected) will depend strictly on the requirements of the experiment, and is subject to acceptance of the review board, who may decide to reduce the team size.

The initial composition of the team will not be changed throughout the programme. If, for exceptional reasons, changes are absolutely necessary, they will be subject to the approval of the review board.

Submitted proposals will be evaluated on completion of all the relevant steps. Please read the how to apply page carefully.

Endorsing professor

The teams will have to be supported by one of their professors or academic supervisors, whose role will be to supervise the work of the students. This person must belong to the same institution as at least one of the students and will be expected to endorse the entire application and development process of the team, and will bear responsibility for the experiment. At the moment of application, he will have to provide ESA's Education Office with a Letter of Endorsement. If the team is not composed of PhD students the endorsing professor must attend the entire campaign.

ELGRA mentor

Additionally, the European Low Gravity Research Association (ELGRA) will offer each selected team, through a mentorship programme, the possibility to benefit from the support from a European scientist highly experienced in gravity-related research.

The objective of the ELGRA mentors' relationships with the students is to bring some support to the team and to advise them during their experiment rack development. The mentors will primarily focus on the scientific aspects of the projects.
The ELGRA mentor will follow the evolution of the team’s participation until the end of the programme, including the post-campaign activities. He/she will be offered the possibility to visit the institution of the student team and will be encouraged to co-author the papers related to this project.

Selection criteria

While reviewing the projects, the review board will take into account various criteria, including the scientific or technological interest, the relevance of hypergravity, the novelty, the involvement of the project in the students’ syllabus, and others. The selection criteria will be applied in a single step selection.

Please note that the conditions detailed above are subject to change without prior notice.