The ESA Education Office runs this week-long training course at the ESA Academy’s Training and Learning Facility, inside the European Space Security and Education Centre (ESEC-Galaxia) at Redu in Belgium. Thirty university students spend the week with ESA staff who work as systems engineers on the agency’s missions. The programme covers the scope, representation and roles of systems engineering, requirements engineering and mission design, concurrent engineering and trade-offs, budget management, verification, project and risk management, and operations.
The 2026 edition runs from 2 to 6 November and follows earlier editions of the same course. Selected students must attend the entire course at ESEC.
Benefits & funding
- Accommodation at the Mercure hotel in Han-sur-Lesse, provided and paid for by ESA, plus meals.
- Travel support of up to €350 for the journey to Belgium.
- Bus transport between the hotel and ESA ESEC for the duration of the course.
- One of 30 places, taught by ESA staff currently working as systems engineers on ESA missions.
- Canadian students enrolled at a Canadian post-secondary institution may seek additional support from the Canadian Space Agency.
Eligibility
- Enrolled as a university student for the 2026–2027 academic year in a bachelor programme (third year or later), a master’s (MSc or equivalent), or a doctoral (PhD or equivalent) programme.
- Background in engineering, with a solid mathematics and physics foundation.
- Minimum age 18.
- No or limited professional experience in relevant scientific or other space-related topics.
- National of an ESA Member State, of an Associate Member (Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia), or of Canada.
- The course is delivered in English.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
Decoded from the official rules. A free account checks them against your passport, degree and age in seconds.
Eligible nationalities
Austria · Belgium · Canada · Cyprus · Czechia · Denmark · Estonia · Finland · France · Germany · Greece · Hungary
+ 16 more
Ireland · Italy · Latvia · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Netherlands · Norway · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · Switzerland · UK
Education required
Bachelor Enrolled · Master Enrolled · PhD Enrolled
Age requirement
≥ 18 yrs
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Application process
- 1Open the course listing on ESA Learn, the ESA Education and Community Platform.
- 2Write a motivation letter of at most one page (PDF).
- 3Prepare a CV in Europass format, at most two pages (PDF).
- 4Ask a university professor for a signed recommendation letter of at most one page (PDF).
- 5Add a transcript of grades covering the previous two semesters (PDF).
- 6Submit the application and the recommendation letter before the stated deadline; ESA announces the selection on a fixed date afterwards.
Program timeline
Application and recommendation-letter deadline, 23:55 CEST.
2 August 2026
Selection announced.
7 September 2026
Training course at ESEC-Galaxia, Belgium.
2–6 November 2026