Eligibility and Selection Criteria

The ESO Summer Research Programme is an opportunity for university students from STEM fields who have not yet started a PhD programme and have completed at least two years of their degree. Even thought the programme is open to students of any nationality, the final selection for the programme will give priority to students who have a nationality of an ESO member state, Chile or Australia (the country of the student's institute/university is not considered for eligibility). Students must be proficient in both spoken and written English (the working language of the programme).  Students must be able to attend the full six week duration of the research programme. 

We will consider applications from students taking any astronomy, physical science, computer science or maths degree subjects. However, we expect the students to have some knowledge of physics, programming, data analysis techniques and, preferably, astronomy.

Students will be selected for the programme based on their academic achievements, research potential and likelihood to significantly benefit from the experience. Particular attention will be given to the motivation of the students to attend the programme and the motivation for each individual projects they have applied for. Students will only be assigned to one of the two research projects for which they expressed an interest in their application form. 

Students that need a visa to travel/work in Germany are responsible for obtaining the visa.

Successful applicants are warmly encouraged to start the procedure as soon as they receive the offer to attend the programme (i.e., ~three months before the start of the programme). The ESO Human Resources department will be able to provide them with any specificly required documents for the visa request to the consulate/embassy.

For any enquiries related to eligibility please contact us on: summerresearch@eso.org.

Important Dates

Applications open: 15 December 2023
Application deadline: 31 January 2024
Announcement of results, request for interview: early April 2024
Deadline for accepting offers: mid April 2024
The Summer Research Programme 2024: 08 July - 16 August 2024