The European Space Agency (ESA), in collaboration with the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC), is pleased to announce the ESA–SGAC Scholarship. This scholarship is a great opportunity for students and young professionals from emerging countries to share their views on diversity and ESA. The theme for this year’s scholarship is: “Shaping a Resilient Future for Earth from Space.”

Application deadline: July 20, 2025, 23:59 GMT

Description

This scholarship will award students and young professionals from emerging countries to attend the 23rd Space Generation Congress (SGC) and the 76th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) respectively in Sydney, Australia.

Participants are asked to submit two short videos (1 minute each) and their CV.

Video

To apply, candidates would submit two short videos (1 minute each) responding to the following questions:

  1. “If you could address one aspect of Earth’s sustainability using space technologies or applications, what would you tackle first to build global resilience — and why?”
  2. “Why is this your most urgent priority, and how would you convince decision makers to act on it now?”

The video will be judged on content and message, rather than visuals. Applicants should be visible and speaking 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 for 1 winner.

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

  1. To apply, please submit your complete application using the Scholarships Submission Form. 
  2. Your submission should follow the competition guidelines below.
  3. Your applications will need to include:
    1. Links to the 2 videos
    2. 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 October 3, 2025.
  2. The scholarship is only open for 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

Your submission should follow the competition guidelines below.

  1. The video and CV shall be submitted via the Scholarships Submission Form.
  2. The language of all submissions shall be English.
  3. Please record your video in a high-quality audio and video format: make sure to have your video in a Landscape Orientation (Horizontal), with a minimum resolution of 720p. 
  4. We encourage the participant to upload their video on YouTube as ‘unlisted’ and provide us with the link to that.
  5. You must be on screen in the video speaking for at least 30 seconds.
  6. Please limit special effects. The video is about you, not your video editing skills.
  7. If you are selected as a winner, we will require the rights of your submitted videos: segments of your submissions for promotion purposes.

In case of a lack of quality of submissions, SGAC has the right to extend and or cancel the competition.

Schedule

Entries accepted

Now!

Submission Deadline

July 20, 2025 – 23:59 GMT

Evaluation

July 21 – 27, 2025

Winners announced

August 1, 2025

Responsibilities of the Winners

The winning author shall:

  • Attend the entire SGC 2025.
  • Attend the entire IAC 2025.
  • Support the running of SGC 2025 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 submit a short report (2 page, including pictures) and a short video (1 minute uploaded onto YouTube) describing the winner’s experience at SGC 2025 and IAC 2025 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 November 3, 2025. 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 2025, 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 November 3, 2025.
  3. In case applicants or the winning author receive funding for SGC 2025 and/or IAC 2025 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. Applicants are advised not to incur any expenses until they have formal confirmation that the grant has been awarded. SGAC is not liable for any expenses incurred by applicants in any case where competition is not awarded, or in excess of the value of the awarded grant.

Please visit SGAC scholarships Reimbursement Form for the reimbursement form and additional information on the reimbursement process.

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 2025 and/or IAC 2025 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 2025 and/or IAC 2025 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.

Contact

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).

Apply!

Apply for the scholarship through the form below. Please note that you need to be logged in to access the form.

Applications for scholarships are available to SGAC members only. 

Please log in or register to complete your application for this scholarship.