Who can apply?

Students can only apply if they are a member of a student CubeSat team in their university.

Priority is given to teams that are either contemplating beginning a university CubeSat project, have recently initiated one, or are keen on employing concurrent engineering methodologies in their CubeSat design.

Teams must comply with the following requirements:

the team must be from a university based in an ESA Member State, Canada*, or Cooperating State
the project is educational

Each student must fulfil the following eligibility criteria:

aged minimum 18 years old. ESA Academy and relevant partners will only appraise applications from students who have no or limited professional experience in relevant scientific, engineering, or other space-related topics
be a citizen of an ESA Member State, Canada*, or Cooperating State
be enrolled as a university student for the year 2025-2026 in a Bachelor (at least 3rd year), in a master (i.e., MSc or equivalent), or a doctoral (i.e., Ph.D. or equivalent) degree programme
be studying an engineering subject or physics.

* Canadian students enrolled in a Canadian post-secondary institution may apply for additional support from the Canadian Space Agency through this Announcement of Opportunity (grant applications must be submitted at least 7 weeks before the event start date – create an account as soon as possible!). This additional support is to cover costs that are not already covered by ESA for selected Canadian post-secondary students.

Selected students will be expected to attend the entire 5-day workshop at ESEC. They will be sponsored by ESA to cover accommodation and meals, as well as up to 350 Euros for travelling to Belgium.

ESA is committed to achieving diversity and creating an inclusive professional environment. To this end, we welcome proposals and applications from all eligible candidates irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, beliefs, age, disability, or other characteristics. The ESA Academy strongly encourages inclusiveness within its programmes and within participating teams, which contributes to the enrichment of our programme.

Whenever possible, we seek to accommodate individuals with disabilities by providing the necessary support, either digitally or at the location of the training. In case of any questions or specific needs, please reach out to academy.training@esa.int to get assistance or advice during the application process.

How to apply

Students within each team shall submit their individual application.

All team members must fill in the online application form:

Select preferred disciplines (3 choices).
Upload a motivation letter (PDF, maximum 1 page, no images). Please state the name of the team you belong to, and what is your role in the project.
Upload a CV (Europass format, PDF, maximum 2 pages, no images)
Upload a formal recommendation letter (PDF, maximum 1 page, including signature, no images) from a university professor or academic supervisor of current university.
Upload a copy of your Transcript of Grades from the two previous semesters, or, if not available, the previous academic year (PDF).

Additionally, the Team Leader must complete the CubeSat Project Overview form (download link below) and submit it to academy.training@esa.int before the end of the call.

All answers and documents should be in English (Transcript of Grades can be submitted in language of hosting university, if unavailable in English).

The deadline for applications is 13 January 2026, 23:59 CET.

For more information, please contact academy.training@esa.int.

About the training

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