The European Space Agency (ESA) in cooperation with the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) has organised the ESA – SGAC Diversity Scholarship. This video/essay scholarship is a great opportunity for students and young professionals from emerging countries to share their views on diversity and ESA.

Application deadline: 22nd June 2022, 23:59 GMT

Description

This scholarship will award students and young professionals from emerging countries to attend the 20th Space Generation Congress (SGC) and the 73rd International Astronautical Congress (IAC) on 14 – 16 September and 18 – 22 September, 2022 respectively in Paris, France.

Participants are asked to submit a 1 minute (max) video or a 500 word (max) essay, and their CV.

Video or Essay

The video/essay must be focused on answering:

  1. How could space contribute to a more diverse, inclusive and egalitarian society (and vice-versa)?
  2. Which is your motivation for participating in the 20th SGC (theme: “Diversity, Access, and Inclusion”) and the 73rd IAC (theme: “Space for All”)?

The video will be judged on content and message, rather than visuals. Applicants should be visible in the video.

CV

The CV must contain a date of birth and a headshot photo and be maximum 2 pages long.

Award

The winner of the scholarship will receive an award in order to attend the following events:

The award will include provisions for travel, accommodation, visa, and registration for SGC and IAC. The total amount of the scholarship is €2000.

SGAC and ESA reserve the right to make a decision based on applicant information when making award decisions. The winner has to take responsibility for additional expenses. The scholarship is provided to the winner after all activities and responsibilities are satisfied.

How to Apply

To apply, please submit your complete application using the Scholarships Submission Form at the bottom of this page. (Note: it is visible once you are logged in as a member)

Please submit your essay as unlocked PDF files. Your name should be included at the top of all pages. Your submission should follow the competition guidelines below.

Your applications will need to include:

  • 500 words essay written in English or Link to the video
  • CV

Guidelines

Eligibility

  1. All individuals shall be SGAC members between the ages of 18 to 35 inclusive (up to the day of their 36th birthday) on 22 September 2022.
  2. The scholarship is open for all students and young professionals with nationality or residence in an ESA Member State or ESA Associate Member State. (ESA MS and AMS: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom; Canada and Slovenia).
  3. The competition is open to individuals.
  4. Competition organizers and judges are not eligible for this award.
  5. Winners should not receive support from any other source to attend SGC and IAC. Should the winners receive such support midway through the program, SGAC should be informed and a solution will be sought.

Submission

  1. The video/essay and CV shall be submitted via the Scholarships Submission Form.
  2. The language of all submissions shall be English.
  3. The essay is due as an unlocked PDF document under 5 MB.
  4. In case of a lack of qual ity of submissions, SGAC has the right to extend and or cancel the competition.

Responsibilities of the Winners

The winning author shall:

  • Attend the entire SGC 2022.
  • Attend the entire IAC 2022.
  • Support the running of SGC 2022 and the SGAC booth. These tasks offer great opportunities such as being the rapporteur of an SGC working group and helping with writing a group report, being the front face of SGAC at the SGAC booth and meeting interesting people.
  • Submit a short report (2 pages excluding pictures) and a short video (1 minute) describing the winner’s experience at SGC 2022 and IAC 2022 for inclusion on the SGAC website, newsletter or social media and that of our partner. The report and video shall describe the experience of the winner at the events. For example, speakers that were particularly interesting, group discussions that stood out or other event highlights.

All responsibilities shall be fulfilled and reports etc. submitted no later than 23rd of October 2022. In case the scholarship awardee does not complete the scholarship requirements on time, the scholarship funds will be transferred to SGAC general budget to continue supporting the mission and work of SGAC. 

Reimbursement

  1. The award will be paid out after the SGC / IAC 2022, no later than 30 days after fulfilment of all responsibilities listed above.
  2. The scholarship award reimbursement is conditioned on the awardee fulfilling the scholarship requirements no later than 23rd October 2022.
  3. In case applicants or the winning author receive funding for SGC 2022 and/or IAC 2022 by any other organization, the Scholarships Coordinators shall be informed. If the applicants don’t inform the Scholarships Coordinators, SGAC holds the right not to reimburse the winning author. SGAC aims to reduce the number of double scholarships and will work with the winners to develop a solution in these cases.
  4. Applicants are advised not to engage in any expenses until they have formal confirmation that the competition has been awarded. The SGAC is not liable for any expenses incurred by applicants in any case where a competition is not awarded, or in excess of the value of the awarded grant.
  5. Reimbursements will follow the SGAC Scholarships Travel Policy & Reimbursement Guidelines. Please make sure to consult the Guidelines before incurring in expenses.

Copyright and Intellectual Property

  1. By submitting an entry, applicants agree to permit SGAC and all affiliated organizers to mention their names, affiliations and headshot picture in connection with the competition.
  2. Copyright of the submitted entry shall remain with the contestants. However, by submitting an entry all contestants agree that SGAC and all affiliated organizers are granted non-exclusive reproduction rights regarding all submitted papers. SGAC and all affiliated organizers may also present ideas and findings generated by this competition at relevant conferences.

Liability

  1. Organizers shall not be responsible in the event that SGC 2022 and/or IAC 2022 is cancelled. SGAC will not reimburse the winning author, even if he/she has already incurred expenses.
  2. Organizers shall not be responsible in the event that the award winner fails to attend SGC 2022 and/or IAC 2022 or is unable to under extenuating circumstances; in that case the award offer shall become void.
  3. Organizers shall not be responsible in the event that the award winner cannot obtain any necessary travel documents; if they are required but not obtained, the award offer shall become void.

Schedule

Entries accepted

Now!

Submission Deadline

22 June 2022 – 23:59 GMT

Evaluation

23 – 29 June 2022

Winners announced

30 June 2022

Contacts

For any questions, please refer to SGAC Scholarships Coordinators ([email protected]).

If you or your organisation is interested in providing talented students and young professionals with the opportunity to share their work and ideas with the global space community, please contact SGAC Scholarships Coordinators (contact above).

Past Winners

2021: Gourav Namta

2018: Chris Ogunlesi, Katherine Pangalos, Kwasi Nkansah

2017: Didunoluwa Obilanade

2016: Angeliki Papadimitriou