Young Graduate Opportunity in the Directorate of Science

ESA is an equal opportunity employer, committed to achieving diversity within the workforce and creating an inclusive working environment. We therefore welcome applications from all qualified candidates irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, beliefs, age, disability or other characteristics. Applications from women are encouraged.

This post is classified F1 on the Coordinated Organisations’ salary scale.

Location

ESAC, Villanueva de la Cañada, Spain 

Our team and mission

The European Space Agency maintains a world-leading Science Programme with missions in heliophysics, planetary science, astrophysics and fundamental physics. Its mission is to 'Empower Europe to lead space science'. The Department for Science and Operations (SCI-S), within ESA's Directorate for Science, host the scientists and engineers that oversee the space missions from study to end of operations; it develops the science operation systems for the missions and operates the missions in space; it archives and curates their data during operations and beyond. Our main objective is to maximise the scientific output of the missions for the benefit of humankind. The traineeship is placed at the Data Science and Archives Division of the Science and Operations Department and aims to support innovative data science activities with a view to increasing the science return of ESA’s science missions through enhancing the science data exploitation, as well as by improving the efficiency of mission science operations. The division is currently developing a platform to support data analytics initiatives for ESA’s space science missions. The platform, ESA Datalabs, is focused on improving collaboration and enabling easy access to data for scientific exploitation. However, there are many opportunities to extend its functionality.

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

Field(s) of activity/research for the traineeship

You will be directly involved in the Data Science Section’s activities, especially in relation to the ESA Datalabs platform, and thus have the opportunity to work on cutting-edge space science data. The platform is in active development and provides streamlined access to data from missions, such as Gaia, JWST, Euclid and many others.

The section is actively working on testing and integrating state-of-the-art machine learning and data science methods in the platform. Further, this position is focused on investigating diverse data analysis and representation methods to jointly improve science exploitation while also improving the accessibility of science data and ESA platforms for people with physical disabilities. Hence, the activities will include:

• working on maximizing science exploitation using state-of-art machine learning and date science methods;
• exploring recent advances in fields such as natural language processing, semi-supervised / zero-shot learning and physics-based neural networks;
• testing and helping to improve accessibility of ESA's science platforms such as ESA Datalabs for people with physical disabilities;
• exploring different tools and methodologies in data visualization and presentation to improve accessibility and enhance scientific study using methods such as sonification or others.

The specific focus areas of the positions will be adapted to match your interests and capabilities.

Technical competencies

Behavioural competencies

Result Orientation

Operational Efficiency

Fostering Cooperation

Relationship Management

Continuous Improvement

Forward Thinking

Education

You should have just completed, or be in the final year of your Master’ s degree in computer science, physics, astronomy, data science or similar.

Additional requirements

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

You should also have:

• Knowledge or interest in data-driven astronomy or other physical sciences
• Knowledge or interest in machine learning and data science
• Knowledge or interest in the presentation of scientific data for a diverse audience
• First-hand experience with accessibility and/or astronomy for people with physical disabilities

Would be an asset:

• Experience in a programming language (Python, R, MATLAB, …)
• Experience with machine learning frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, …)
• Experience or interest in inclusive design
• Experience or interest in open science, open source, or citizen science

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.

During the interview motivation and overall professional perspective/career goals will also be explored.

Other information

For behavioural competencies expected from ESA staff in general, please refer to the ESA Competency Framework.

For further information on the Young Graduate Programme please visit: Young Graduate Programme and FAQ Young Graduate Programme

At the Agency we value diversity and we welcome people with disabilities. Whenever possible, we seek to accommodate individuals with disabilities by providing the necessary support at the workplace. The Human Resources Department can also provide assistance during the recruitment process. If you would like to discuss this further please contact us email contact.human.resources@esa.int.

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Please note that applications are only considered from nationals of one of the following States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Nationals from Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia, as  Associate Member States, or Canada as a Cooperating State, can apply as well as those from Bulgaria, Croatia and Cyprus as European Cooperating States (ECS).

According to the ESA Convention, the recruitment of staff must take into account an adequate distribution of posts among nationals of the ESA Member States*. When short-listing for an interview, priority will first be given to candidates from under-represented Member States*. 

In accordance with the European Space Agency’s security procedures and as part of the selection process, successful candidates will be required to undergo basic screening before appointment conducted by an external background screening service. 

*Member States, Associate Members or Cooperating States.