Our team and mission

This research fellowship will be undertaken in the ESA Directorate of Space Transportation (D/STS) within the STS PNRR Integrated Project Team. As a research fellow, you will benefit from the technological development streams devoted to consolidating knowledge of cryogenic LOx-methane propulsion systems through demonstration flight tests and preparing the key building blocks to be used in the new generation of green launch vehicles aimed at reducing recurring costs while extending operational capabilities. 

The STS PNRR Integrated Project Team (IPT) is an integrated team of young, enthusiastic and highly motivated engineers with solid academic backgrounds and industrial experience in a broad variety of disciplines such as propulsion, avionics systems, system engineering and integration, mechanical systems, assembly, integration and test, product assurance and safety, and security. The STS PNRR IPT interacts closely with academia and the aerospace industry, operating in a truly multidisciplinary fashion and fostering research on innovative systems, design concepts, lean development approaches, for example agile, and working methods. Through its daily work, the team acts as a pathfinder for the low-cost, green launch systems of the future.

The Directorate of Space Transportation is a programme directorate within the ESA matrix structure, whose activities are performed in cooperation with the other ESA directorates and DG services as appropriate. It operates as part of the ESA Enabling and Support area along with the Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality (D/TEC) and the Directorate of Operations (D/OPS).

In this respect, the Director is, in particular, responsible for proposing and implementing a strategy for the European space transportation sector. Such a strategy includes a long-term vision of the sector and depends on the service demand of institutional and commercial users, among other things, while promoting private initiatives, identifying potential transformation opportunities, and proposing action to tackle upcoming challenges. The Director is in charge of preparing the future of the sector by building up relevant proposals for all new programmes and activities in space transportation, taking into consideration the industrial policy of the Agency.

You are strongly encouraged to familiarise yourself with the technological activities performed by STS PNRR, in particular in the field of model-based system engineering and its application to the multidisciplinary design optimisation (MDO) of complex systems.
 

You are encouraged to visit the ESA website: https://www.esa.int/

Field(s) of activity/research for the traineeship

You will carry out research in the field of model-based digital system engineering, with particular emphasis on its implementation in multidisciplinary design optimisation methodologies to be applied to the new class of green launch vehicles and their subsystems. Your areas of research will be chosen based on both your own expert judgement and insight into trends and developments and on team requirements to ensure alignment with the strategic directions of the STS PNRR programme.

Scientifically, you will in particular:

• propose and conduct rigorous research in the field of model-based digital system engineering and its fusion within the multidisciplinary design optimisation methodology for space launch vehicles. This research will be performed, where appropriate, in collaboration with universities;
• analyse various vehicle architectures and configurations, with special emphasis on the two-stage-to-orbit (TSTO) vehicle based on LOx-methane cryogenic liquid propulsion, engine clustering, low structural ratio and low-cost system-integrated avionics;
• select and study the two most promising configurations, one from the payload class of 1 tonne at 500km SSO, and another from the payload class of 3.5 tonnes at 700km SSO, both with the capacity for first stage re-entry. The study covers the preliminary design span up to the identification of the best vehicle configurations enabling the initiation of the detailed design span, and is carried out by applying MDO methodologies integrated with the implementation of model-based digital system engineering;
• perform the preliminary design and sizing of the vehicle subsystems, including mass, inner profile and layout with dimensions;
• estimate the NRC and RC of the vehicles on the basis of assumed operational modes and expected launch rates.

As a research fellow, you will:

• publish results in peer-reviewed publications and use modern communication tools to communicate with the broader audience within and external to ESA;
• lead and assist in interdisciplinary projects with other researchers;
• participate, together with the team, in the assessment of novel space system concepts and propose new concepts and assessment studies;
• perform and participate in assessments on topics of strategic interest to ESA, providing in-house expertise towards strategy development;
• benefit, in your research, from the technology and engineering expertise available at ESA.

Technical competencies

Behavioural competencies

Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward Thinking 

Education

You should have recently completed (within five years), or be close to completion of a PhD in engineering or physics, preferably with a focus on multidisciplinary design optimisation for complex systems. A thesis topic relevant to the aforementioned fields of activities would be considered an advantage.

Additional requirements

You should also have:

• Experience in scientific modelling;
• Proficiency in a programming language;
• The desire to develop a career in academia or research;
• An aptitude for and interest in prospective interdisciplinary research;
• The ability to contextualise specialised areas of research and quickly assess their potential with respect to other domains and applications;
• Academic networking skills to create functioning links with universities and research institutes;
• Ability to work in a team as well as independently in accordance with your own research plans and directions;
• Natural curiosity and a passion for new subjects and research areas.

Experience in space vehicle mission design and system engineering is considered a strong asset.    

Your role will be similar to a regular academic postdoctoral placement, but with a number of notable differences:

• As there are no professor or similar roles within the teams, you should be more academically independent than most postdoctoral researchers. This implies greater freedom, but also greater responsibility for research directions and approaches.
• You will join a diverse, evolving, and interdisciplinary research team embedded in a large space agency, in contrast to a more specialised, focused research group with similar competences.
• You are required to actively reach out to other disciplines in order to bring their competences to bear in interdisciplinary research projects and to encourage other researchers to join them in their core, cross-disciplinary research projects.
• You will need to communicate their expertise and research results, including their potential implications and importance for ESA’s long-term strategy, both internally and externally.

You should have good interpersonal and communication skills and should be able to work in a multi-cultural environment, both independently and as part of a team.

The working languages of the Agency are English and French. A good knowledge of one of these is required. Knowledge of another Member State language would be an asset.

During the interview motivation and overall professional perspective/career goals will also be explored.