ESO Summer Research Programme
7th ESO Summer Research Programme
Garching, Germany
30 June - 8 August 2025
For six weeks in the summer of 2025, ESO will host the seventh Summer Research Programme. This fully-funded programme is an opportunity for university students interested in astronomy/astrophysics, who are not yet enrolled in a PhD programme, to obtain research experience alongside astronomers based at ESO Headquarters (HQ) in Garching, Germany.
We accept applications from promising university students from any country, although priority will be given to students from ESO Member States, Strategic Partners (Australia) and the Host State (Chile).
The Summer Research Programme will be hosted in Garching.
We are excited to announce the successful applicants for the 2025 Summer Programme and the projects on which they will be working:
Paula Manuela Leguizamón Pineda (University of Padova, Italy)
Project A: Recovering the orbit of interacting binaries
with Sreejita Das, Nicolás Kurtovic, Miguel Vioque and Elena Viscardi
Lorenz Michael Hauer (University of Vienna, Austria)
Project B: Dense, star-forming gas — the missing piece in understanding the lifecycle of molecular clouds
with Lukas Neumann and Ashley Barnes
Aurora Moore (University College Cork, Ireland)
Project C: Giants under the telescope: characterizing the atmospheres of gas giant exoplanets through direct spectroscopy
with Jens Kammerer, Thomas Winterhalder, Claudia Toci, Lara Piscarreta
Jayde Willingham (Macquarie University, Australia)
Project D: Exploring the Growth of Dense Stellar Systems Across Cosmic History
with Martyna Chruslinska, Mirko Curti
Gustavo Goncalves (Federal University of Technology, UTFPR, Brazil)
Project E: Timescales of Transformation: Environmental Impacts on Galaxy Evolution
with Ilaria Marini, Amelia Fraser-McKelvie, Natanael de Isídio
Alfonso Pisapia (INAF - OAS Bologna, Italy)
Project F: Study on the rotation of water around a proto-black hole
with Luigi Zallio, Miguel Vioque, Luke Maud, Nicolás Kurtovic
Emilia Nilsson (Lund University, Sweden)
Project G: Following the Trail of Streamers feeding Baby Stars
with Teresa Valdivia-Mena, Anna Miotello
The Summer Research Program at ESO is an exceptional opportunity for students to work at an institute that is both the headquarters of the most productive observatory in the world and a top-class research organisation. People at ESO's HQ maintain a very active research community and are also designing and operating cutting-edge telescopes and their instruments including the VLT, ALMA, and the forthcoming ELT, which will be the world's biggest optical-near infrared telescope!
The applicants can choose between a wide range of research projects, covering many areas of astronomy from planets to galaxies. The ESO Summer Research Programme will also provide opportunities beyond research, including a series of lectures, a mini-workshop, a planetarium visit, an ELT instrumentation visit, and many social activities. You should expect six weeks packed with new experiences, new networks and new friendships!
Travel costs to/from Garching will be covered for participants of the programme. Accommodation will be provided in a shared apartment in Garching (with electricity, heating and internet all included). Students will also be provided with a modest stipend to cover living costs during the programme. Successful students have the responsibility to acquire any required visas to spend six weeks working in Germany under these conditions.
ESO Blog articles on the 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 editions of the Summer Research Programme can be found here, here, here, and here.
Previous editions of the ESO Summer Research Programme:
For inquiries about the programme, please email summerresearch@eso.org.