Location
ESAC, Villanueva de la Cañada, Spain
Our team and mission
ESA 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 Operations and Office for Science Engagement and Oversight host together the scientists and engineers that oversee the space missions, from study to end of operations. It defines and develops the science operation systems for the missions and operates the missions in space, as well as archiving and curating their data during operations and beyond. Our main objective is to maximise the scientific output of ESA’s space science missions for the benefit of humankind.
The Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) is a joint mission between ESA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences that is expected to launch during the traineeship. This heliophysics mission, with its diverse international community of scientists, is dedicated to measuring the response of the Earth’s magnetosphere – ionosphere system to changes in the conditions of the solar wind, the continuous but variable flow of plasma and magnetic field that fills the heliosphere. These interactions are important scientifically, but also in influencing how the space environment interacts with our society and technology. SMILE will fulfil its mission by making a combination of in situ measurements of the magnetic field and ions close to the spacecraft, remote sensing measurements of the aurora in ultraviolet, and, for the first time, by imaging the boundary of the magnetosphere, the magnetopause and the cusp regions, using X-Rays.
The ESA Science Operations Centre for the SMILE mission is located at the European Space Astronomy Centre near Madrid, Spain, and is responsible for receiving and validating the scientific data from the mission. We will make it available to the public worldwide via the ESA HelioPhysics Archive, part of the ESAC Science Data Centre, in a way that
makes the data as easy to use as possible, and so maximise the scientific return of the mission.
You are encouraged to visit the ESA website: http://www.esa.int
Field(s) of activity/research for the traineeship
You will join the SMILE Science Operations Centre team as the final preparations for launch and first operations of the mission are taking place. You will be responsible for defining, together with the international SMILE community, and then creating data analysis tools for users of the ESA HelioPhysics Archive or HPA. The target audience for the tools are scientists who are not already familiar with the SMILE mission nor part of the SMILE consortium. The goal is to help them get started with the SMILE data, and so answer their research questions as easily as possible. This is important because of the novel nature of the SMILE X-ray data in particular. You will make use of the state-of-the-art ESA Datalabs platform which is being actively developed to enable ever more complex scientific analysis of our growing and world-leading datasets.
Your tasks will include:
- learning about and understanding the SMILE instruments, data products, their capabilities and uses.
- working with the international SMILE consortium to identify the needs for data analysis tools;
- implementing those tools on the ESA Datalabs platform, probably as Jupyter notebooks using Python;
- before the start of science operations, testing the tools using simulated data;
- after the start of science operations modifying the tools based on the true performance of the instruments and any changes in data products;
- assessing to what extent the tools could be modified or designed to support education and public activities focussed on the SMILE mission, or heliophysics in general;
- investigating how the SMILE data might additionally be used in an astrophysical context, interacting with the astrophysics archive teams.
Technical competencies
Knowledge of relevant technical/functional domains
Relevant experience gained during internships, project work and/or extracurricular or other activities
General knowledge of the space sector and relevant activities
Knowledge of ESA and its programmes/projects
Behavioural competencies
Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward Thinking
For more information, please refer to ESA Core Behavioural Competencies guidebook
Education
You should have recently completed or be in the final year of your master’s degree in computer science, physics, space science or astrophysics.
Additional requirements
You should have good interpersonal and communication skills and be able to work in a multicultural environment, both independently and as part of a team. Previous experience of working in international teams can be considered an asset. Your motivation, overall professional perspective and career goals will also be explored during the later stages of the selection process.
You should also have :
- experience programming in Python;
- experience in the analysis of data, ideally in heliophysics or astrophysics;
- experience of designing and refining software tools based on interactions with a user community would be an asset.
Familiarity with Jupyter notebooks and knowledge of heliophysics, particularly solar wind/magnetosphere interactions would be an asset.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness
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.
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 via email at contact.human.resources@esa.int.
Important Information and Disclaimer
Applicants must be eligible to access information, technology, and hardware which is subject to European or US export control and sanctions regulations.
During the recruitment process, the Agency may request applicants to undergo selection tests. Additionally, successful candidates will need to undergo basic screening before appointment, which will be conducted by an external background screening service, in compliance with the European Space Agency’s security procedures.
The information published on ESA’s careers website regarding working conditions is correct at the time of publication. It is not intended to be exhaustive and may not address all questions you would have.
Nationality and Languages
Please note that applications can only be considered from nationals of one of the following States: Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Nationals from Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia as Associate Member States, or Canada as a Cooperating State, can apply as well as those from Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Malta 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 be given to external candidates from under-represented Member States*.
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.
*Member States, Associate Members or Cooperating States.
