Northern exposure for satnav summer school
This year’s ESA–Joint Research Centre International Summer School on Global Navigation Satellite Systems will be held in Longyearbyen, Svalbard-Spitsbergen, Norway, on 4–15 September, close to the world's northernmost Galileo station.
This will be a unique opportunity for young researchers in satellite navigation to gain first-class knowledge from worldwide lecturers while experiencing the Arctic environment. The 10-day course will cover all aspects of satellite navigation, up to and including the creation of a satnav-based business.
This extraordinary location has been made possible through the support of the Norwegian Space Centre, ESA, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and various sponsors.
The Summer School is open to graduate students, PhDs and postdoctoral researchers, as well as young engineers and academics working within industry or agencies, aged 35 or younger.
Register before the end of April to benefit from an early registration discount. The number of participants is limited to 50 on a first-come, first-served basis.
Internationally renowned scientists and specialists will be giving lectures as well as overseeing practical exercises and lab work.
Participants will receive a full-spectrum overview of satellite navigation, starting from the theoretical basis of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), their signals, the processing performed by signals and receivers and how the position–navigation–time solution is worked out. The modernisation and the evolution of these systems will also be covered.
Discussion will also be made of threats to satnav systems, such as spoofing or jamming, and the countermeasures available against them, along with back-up navigation solutions for a GNSS-denied environment.
Exercises will include receiving the various satnav constellations now in orbit – including Europe’s 18-satellite Galileo – to give course members hands-on experience.
In addition, lectures will cover business aspects, including patents and intellectual property rights.
The course will emphasise the development of a group business project, building on an innovative idea to take in the planning of the product or service, its technical realisation and finally its marketing to customers as well as on ideas for the second generation of Galileo.
For more detailed information and registration see www.esa-jrc-summerschool.org
