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ESA Graduate Trainee Programme 2025
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Get ready for the ESA Graduate Trainee Programme

27/01/2025 1617 views 21 likes
ESA / About Us / Careers at ESA

Want to open your eyes to a career in space? The 2025 ESA Graduate Trainee opportunities are launching soon! It’s time to polish up your CV, craft a standout cover letter and get ready to reach for the stars.

If you’re in the final year of a Master’s degree—or recently graduated—in engineering, science, IT or business, the ESA Graduate Trainee Programme (formerly the Young Graduate Trainee Programme) is your chance to work on cutting-edge missions alongside Europe’s top space professionals. EGTs join us for one year, with the possibility of a second year, and the programme puts you right at the centre of Europe’s thriving space activities. Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shape the future of space exploration!

ESA Graduate Trainee Programme
ESA Graduate Trainee Programme

The launch of the new opportunities is coming soon, so here are six important pieces of information on the EGT Programme while we wait for applications to open.

1. Who can apply?

To be eligible for the EGT Programme, you must be:

  • within one year of having graduated with a Master in engineering, science, IT or business services. You can of course apply (and we encourage you to do so) while you are still studying if you are in the final year of your Master, but you must have graduated by the time your traineeship starts. You will be asked to provide us with your Master’s diploma at the very latest within three months of starting at ESA.
  • a citizen of one of the following ESA Member 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 Members, or Canada as a Cooperating State, can apply as well as those from Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Malta as European Cooperating States.

2. What the EGT Programme offers

  • A unique professional experience as part of a team of scientists, engineers and business professionals from all over Europe, working together on inspiring space missions in an international environment.
  • A great opportunity to gain extensive experience that could open doors to a long-term career within Europe’s space sector. 
  • A one-year contract (with possible extension to a second year) with 2.5 days' paid leave per month.
  • Excellent employment conditions, including a monthly salary exempt from national income tax in ESA Member States.
  • Reimbursement of travel expenses at the beginning and end of the contract.
  • Expatriation allowance and/or an installation allowance on arrival if you move from another country.
  • Affiliation to ESA’s comprehensive social security scheme and pension scheme.

The EGT experience

What is it like to be an EGT at ESA? Read about former EGTs and their ESA experiences:

Beyond the day-to-day work, trainees can also get involved in exciting initiatives like YPSat, ESA’s Young Professionals Satellite project. YPSat is a unique programme where early professionals design, build and operate small satellites, gaining hands-on experience in every stage of a real satellite mission. 

 

3. Watch the information sessions

We held two information sessions where participants could find out more about the EGT Programme and submit their questions about this unique opportunity. 

5 February

Hosted on CareerFairy

This information session explained the various entry-level programmes available at ESA with a focus on the EGT Programme, and also included a Q&A session. 

Replay coming soon

12 February

Hosted on YouTube

Former ESA Research Fellow and host, Maggie Lieu, and current EGTs shared the work they do on ESA projects, their own personal experience of the application process and the tips and tricks they learned when applying to ESA.

Watch the replay here

4. How to apply to the EGT Programme

  • Explore our ESA Graduate Trainee opportunities here once they are published in February.
  • Select the opportunity that interests you the most and fits best with your academic background and aspirations. As of 2024, each candidate can submit up to three applications.
  • Register and create your candidate profile with your CV and motivation letter.
  • Apply! You will be able to track the status of your application throughout the process by logging into your candidate profile.

5. What is the timeline of the selection process?

The pre-selection and interview of shortlisted candidates will take place between March and May 2025, with the final selection made by ESA in June. The date of the take-up of duty is mutually agreed upon by ESA and the successful candidate and usually takes place in September or October.

6. How can I know when the opportunities are published?

Keep up to date with our latest news articles. The quickest way to be informed about the publication of EGT opportunities is to subscribe to our careers news or create a job alert on our recruiting website.

Want to learn more?

Find detailed information on the EGT Programme and answers to your most common questions on the dedicated FAQ page.

Share with your network!

Spread the word on social media by sharing our key visual (below) of the campaign together with a short text summarising the information plus a link to our careers website, recruitment website or this news article. If you would like to use hashtags, please use #ESArecruits and #ESAcareers.

ESA Graduate Trainee Programme 2025
ESA Graduate Trainee Programme 2025

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