Student sponsorship opportunity for IAC 2024

The congress is the main annual meeting point for space professionals and provides participating students with a once in a lifetime opportunity to create many valuable contacts with both professionals and like-minded students from all over the world. 

Throughout the congress, students can interact with experts, listen to their views on the future of space, and learn about the latest developments in the space industry. At the same time, students are encouraged to actively contribute to the congress by presenting their own research to the space community.

Students selected by ESA will be sponsored to attend the congress as an ESA-sponsored student for the International Space Education Board’s (ISEB) Student Program at the IAC. Launched in 1999, the ISEB is now federating educational efforts from AEM, CNES, CSA, ESA, JAXA, KARI, NASA, SANSA, UAESA and VSSEC. The ISEB Student Programme is designed to supplement and enrich students’ experience at the congress, providing the opportunity to attend specialised events, presentations, panel sessions, and meetings with senior representatives, tailored to explore both educational and professional insights. This program usually starts 1 to 2 days before the IAC opening ceremony and ends with the IAC closure ceremony or the day after. Read more about the past sponsorship winners’ experience here.

Outline of Sponsorship

The sponsorship will cover:

• Conference early bird registration fee; 
• Economic travel from hometown to Milano and back on ESA-indicated arrival and departure dates, up to a ceiling amount;
• Accommodation in a designated hotel for the ESA-indicated dates of stay.

Students will be responsible for the cost of all non-sponsored meals. They will also have to make their own arrangements for passports, visas, travel insurance and medical insurance. In general, the sponsorship is awarded as a partial reimbursement of expenses after the conference. 

Eligibility criteria

In order to be eligible to apply for sponsorship:

• the applicant must be minimum 18 years old at the time of conference;
• the applicant must be a citizen of an ESA Member State, Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Slovakia; 
• the applicant must be enrolled in a tertiary education academic programme (not graduating before the conference), studying or researching a subject which is related to one or more of the conference session topics; 
• the applicant must have an accepted abstract related to their studies, thesis or project work, which they intend to individually* present as either: 
  • a paper (oral or poster presentation) in one of the scientific/technical sessions or the conference, or: 
  • a demonstration or presentation in an exhibition or at a special event related to the conference (including interactive poster sessions)
• the applicant should not benefit from an overlapping financial support to attend this conference, unless duly justified; 
• the applicant should agree with the conditions of the ESA Academy Privacy Policy.

Note that priority will be given to applicants who have never taken part in an activity sponsored by ESA's Education Office or by ESA in general, and to applicants who have less than 2 years of professional experience. 

ESA is committed to achieving diversity and creating an inclusive professional environment. To this end, we welcome applications from all eligible students irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, beliefs, age, disability or other characteristics. The ESA Academy strongly encourages inclusiveness within its programmes.

Additional sponsorship to attend the 2024 Space Generation Congress

In addition to ESA’s sponsorship to attend the ISEB Student Program at IAC, several selected students will also be eligible for sponsorship to attend the 2024 Space Generation Congress (SGC) in Milano, Italy.

The Space Generation Congress is the annual meeting of the Space Generation Advisory Council always held in conjunction with the IAC at the same hosting country. Every year, the SGC event receives about 150 outstanding students and young professionals who share a passion for space. Through the SGC, the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) aims to give a voice to the young generation of space leaders so that they can share their opinions and perspectives concerning international space development.

In addition to the IAC sponsorship listed above, the SGC sponsorship will cover:

• Conference registration fee;
• Accommodation in a designated hotel for the ESA-indicated dates of stay.

To be eligible for this secondary sponsorship applicants must:

• Have independently applied for the SGC by 21 May 2024 (23:59 GMT) through the application system;
• Indicate their interest in attending the SGC as well as IAC in the application form below.

How to apply

In order to be considered for the IAC 2024 Sponsorship, you are requested to:

1. Ensure you meet the eligibility criteria (see above);
2. Apply for ESA sponsorship opportunity by 13 June 2024 (23:59 CET), by completing this application form. 

Should you have problems with the application system please email academy.engagement@esa.int before the application deadline.

Successful applicants will be notified by ESA mid-June with further details on travel arrangements.

*If your abstract is a group paper, only one student can be sponsored by ESA Academy to present on behalf of the group.