Spin Your Thesis! 2018 open for proposals
Sometimes it’s good to get into a spin. Particularly if you are a student wanting to run a hyper-gravity experiment. For the ninth year, ESA’s Education Office is open to submissions for its Spin Your Thesis! programme.
Spin Your Thesis! allows students to carry out experiments in hypergravity conditions at ESA’s Large Diameter Centrifuge (LDC). Very different from the desktop centrifuges found in ordinary laboratories, the LDC is a world-class instrument. It is eight metres in diameter, and so large that it is housed in its own hall at ESA’s technical heart (ESTEC), The Netherlands. It can hold an experiment of up to 80kg in mass and spin so fast that it simulates a pull of gravity up to 20 times larger than that experienced at Earth’s surface.
STATUS: The call for proposals is CLOSED.
DEADLINE: 5th November 2017 23:59 CET.
Student teams with ideas for experiments should read more about the programme on the Spin Your Thesis! webpage. There is also information about how to apply. ESA strongly believes in diversity and equal opportunities in the workplace. Student applying to this call should also strive to implement these principles when forming their teams. The proposals shall also clarify how the student teams intend to cope with a possible turn-over, in order to replace team members who might decide to leave the project. Eventually, teams of 4 (or more) university students from ESA member states* will be chosen later this year to take part in this unique opportunity.
The students chosen to take part in the SYT! programme have the chance to develop important skills that enhance their academic studies and prepare them for careers in the space industry. These include transferable skills such project management, problem solving, and working in international teams.
“It was an opportunity for them to experience something different, to meet other people from other countries and cultures, and to swap ideas. The world of the European Space Agency is very rich. They can help you in many different ways to complete your research.” says Elisa Masi, University of Florence, Italy, who led the HyperMEA team during Spin Your Thesis! 2015.
In addition, the students are helped by experts at the LDC who provide feedback on how to optimise the experiments to get the more out of the studies. “It was a great experience both at personal and professional level because we could interact with ESA technicians and we could learn new techniques and how to work in team,” says Antonella Rocca, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy, who was part of Team Osteo, another 2015 Spin Your Thesis! experiment.
Both these teams collected such valuable results that they published their conclusions in professional scientific journals. Opportunities also exist for students to present their findings at international conferences.
“Everything about the programme is run at the highest professional level. In this way we can help teach the students how to take part in the real world of space research. This will help ensure that Europe retains its leading space industry,” says Nigel Savage, programme coordinator for Spin Your Thesis!
Apply now!
For your chance to be part of Spin Your Thesis! 2018, go here for the details about how to apply. The submission deadline is 5 November 2017 23:59 CEST with experiments taking place in the fourth quarter of 2018.
For further information please contact at spinyourthesis @ esa.int.
