Avascent, in cooperation with the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC), are happy to announce the first edition of the Avascent Scholarship. This scholarship is an opportunity for students and young professionals to get funding to attend the 5th E-SGW workshop in Madrid by submitting your CV and a Letter of Interest. 

One winner will be selected to attend the 5th European Space Generation Workshop (E-SGW), to be held in Madrid, Spain, on October 30 – 31 2020.

Deadline: 23rd of August 2020, 23:59 GMT

Update: Due to the COVID-19 Situation, the 5th ESGW has been postponed until 2021. This scholarship has been closed as a result. We expect to relaunch once a new date for the ESGW in 2021 is confirmed.

About Avascent

Avascent is the preeminent strategy and management consulting firm serving clients in aerospace, defense, and government-driven markets. With over three decades of experience and over 100 professionals headquartered in Washington, DC, with offices in London, Paris, Ottawa, and Tokyo, Avascent provides in-depth research, analysis, and recommendations for global leaders in aerospace, defense, and technology, providing clients with the expertise they need to succeed. 

Avascent’s space industry team brings decades of experience supporting clients in the satellite communications & earth observation, manufacturing, and launch markets, combining deep industry relationships and the most comprehensive launch and space payload database available.

To find out more about Avascent, visit: https://www.avascent.com

About the 5th European Space Generation Workshop

The European Space Generation Workshop (E-SGW) is a two day international event that aims to bring together students and young professionals to think and collectively create Europe’s future in space.

The fifth edition of the European Space Generation Workshop will take place in Madrid on October 30-31st, 2020. During the time spent in Madrid, delegates will get the opportunity to share ideas on sustainable space applications, a topic the interest in which has substantially increased over the past few years.

120 students and young professionals (aged 18-35) will discuss and shape together the future of space in Europe. There will be talks and panels by experts and professionals from the leading European companies and agencies, and working groups where the participants will discuss diverse space topics moderated by industry experts.

It is a great opportunity for young space enthusiasts to learn about the latest space developments and to engage and discover the opportunities in the space field, as well as for the organizations to capture talent and obtain an insight on innovative ideas and the opinion of the next generation of space professionals.

Impact of COVID-19

Unfortunately, COVID-19 has severely impacted international travel and events earlier this year. Travel and event restrictions within Europe have mostly eased and the ESGW is slated to go ahead at the end of October. However there is the possibility that travel and event restrictions could return. In the event that the ESGW cannot be run at the end of October, the event may be moved online, in which case the winner can use the award to support attendance at ESGW next year.

The event team is monitoring the COVID-19 situation closely and September 1 has been set as the date for a final decision as to whether or not the event can still go ahead, right around the time the winner of the scholarship will be announced.

Award

The Avascent Scholarship will support one winner to attend the 5th European Space Generation Workshop, in Madrid, Spain. 

The award will partly cover, as a form of reimbursement, the expenses for the travel, accommodation and event registration fees up to 450 EUR. 

The winner is responsible for additional expenses (see detailed Reimbursement Guidelines below).

How to Apply

To apply, you will need to write and submit your CV (max 2 pages) and a letter of intent (max 1 page) showing your motivation to attend the 5th E-SGW.

Please submit your complete application using the Scholarships Submission Form and following the Scholarship Guidelines (please see below)

Guidelines

Eligibility

1. The language of all submissions must be in English.
2. The competition is open to all students and young professionals from any country.
3. All individuals or team members shall be SGAC members between the ages of 18 to 35 inclusive (up to the day of their 36th birthday) on the 1st of November 2020.
4. Applicants must have applied to be a delegate for the 5th E-SGW.
5. Competition organisers and judges are not eligible for this award.
6. The winner shall not receive support from any other source to attend the E-SGW. Should the winner receive such support midway through the program, SGAC shall be informed and a solution will be sought.
7. In the interest of spreading opportunities to more members, SGAC reserves the right to prioritise applicants who have not recently received another SGAC scholarship of a similar nature. This is defined as having received an award in the past 2 years, in the same category (either international or regional/national) as this posted award. International awards include scholarships for international events such as SGC/IAC, SGFF and Space Symposium, while regional/national awards refer to events, such as the Space Generation Workshops (SGW), national space generation events (SG[country]) or other regional or national conferences.

Submission

1. The language of all submissions must be English.
2. All submissions must be made by the 23rd of August 2020, 23:59 GMT. Any submissions after the deadline will not be considered.
3. In case of lack of quality of submissions, SGAC has the right to extend and or cancel the competition.

Responsibility of Winners

The winner shall:

1. Attend the entire E-SGW 2020
2. Support the running of the 5th E-SGW. These tasks offer great opportunities such as being the rapporteur of a 5th E-SGW working group and helping with writing a group report.
3. Submit a short report (1 page excluding pictures) and a short video (1 minute) describing his or her experience at ESGW 2020 for inclusion on the SGAC website, newsletter or social media and that of our partners. The report and video shall describe the experience of the winner at the 5th E-SGW. For example, speakers that were particularly interesting, group discussions that stood out or other event highlights.
4. All responsibilities shall be fulfilled and reports etc. submitted no later than November 30, 2020. In case the scholarship awardee(s) do(es) 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 ESGW 2020, no later than 30 days after the fulfilment of all responsibilities listed above.
2. The scholarship award reimbursement is conditioned on the awardee fulfilling the scholarship requirements no later than November 30, 2020.
3. In case the winner receives funding to attend the ESGW 2020 by any other organisation, the Scholarships Coordinators shall be informed. If the applicants don’t inform the Scholarships Coordinators, SGAC holds the right to not 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 to not engage any expenses until they have formal confirmation that the competition has been awarded. 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 the SGAC to use their names, affiliations, and headshot photo in connection with the scholarship. This also applies to the essay that is submitted: portions of this essay could be used for promotional purposes (the authors, of course, will be credited for the content).
2. Copyright of the submitted entry shall remain with the contestants. However, by submitting an entry all contestants agree that SGAC and all affiliated organisers are granted non-exclusive reproduction rights regarding all submitted papers. SGAC and all affiliated organisers may also present ideas and findings generated by this competition at relevant conferences.

Liability

1. Organisers shall not be responsible in the event that the ESGW 2020 is cancelled. SGAC will not reimburse the winning author, even if he/she has already incurred expenses.
2. Organisers shall not be responsible in the event that the award winner fails to attend the ESGW 2020 or is unable to attend under extenuating circumstances; in that case, the award offer shall become void.
3. Organisers 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.
4. The award is not transferable to another event or individual.

Evaluation

Evaluators will include members of the SGAC scholarship team and representatives of the scholarship supporter.

The overall evaluation will consider:

• Applicant background – CV (30%)
• Applicant motivation – Letter of Interest (70%)

Schedule

Entries accepted:	1st of August 2020
Application Deadline:	23rd of August 2020, 23:59 GMT
Winner announced:	31st of August 2020
European Space Generation Workshop	30-31 October 2020.

Contact

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