ISS Crew Fund Scholarship

The ISS Crew Fund in cooperation with the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) is happy to announce the second edition of the ISS Crew Fund Scholarship. This scholarship is an opportunity for students and young professionals to share their views and analysis on the future of human spaceflight and exploration by submitting an essay. 

Up to four winners will be selected to attend the 5th European Space Generation Workshop (E-SGW), to be held in Madrid, Spain, on May 8-9 2020.

Deadline: 25 February 28 February 2020, 23:59 GMT

About the ISS Crew Fund

In 2014 the Westphalian Peace Prize had been awarded to the crews of the International Space Station (ISS) to honour their international cooperation for the peaceful exploration of Space. In awarding the prize, special notion had been given to the fact that formerly competing nations have found a way to join their forces and build and operate the largest technical project in Space – the ISS. The prize ceremony took place in the German town of Muenster, North-Rhine Westphalia, where in the presence of Federal Secretary of State, Mr. Steinmeier, and other local, state, and federal politicians the former ISS crew members Thomas Reiter, ESA/Europe, Michael Lopez-Allegria, NASA/USA, and Pawel Vinogradov, RoscosmosEnergia/Russia were presented with the symbol of the prize, a sculpture representing the heraldic horse of Westphalia.

The associated prize money and other such ISS prizes now form the ISS Crew Fund and are kept in an escrow account under the custody of the Association of Space Explorers – Europe. The money is intended to be used to provide opportunities of international cooperation also for the next generations of young space professionals and foster international cooperation for peaceful research and exploration of Space. Decisions are taken by a board composed of astronauts.

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 May 8th – 9th, 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 about 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.

Essay Topic

Human Spaceflight in 2070: As space agencies are working towards sending humans back to the Moon, what will we be doing in 50 years? Will we have settlers living on the Moon or even on Mars?  Will we be there thanks to international endeavours, efforts lead by single governments or by private actors? And how may the discoveries of exoplanets effect and boost human spaceflight to go interstellar?

Write and submit a short essay (max 500 words) to be considered for this scholarship.

Award

The ISS Crew Fund Scholarship will support up to four winners 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 500 EUR. 

The winners have to take the responsibility for additional expenses (see detailed Reimbursement Guidelines below).

How to Apply

To apply, you will need to write and submit an essay (max 500 words) with the topic highlighted above.

Please submit your complete application using the Scholarships Submission Form and following this 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 10th of May 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 solution will be sought.

Submission

1. The language of all submissions must be English.
2. All submissions must be made by the 25th February 28th February 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 not later than June 15 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 fulfilment of all responsibilities listed above.
2. The scholarship award reimbursement is conditioned on the awardee fulfilling the scholarship requirements not later than June 15 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

Applications will be evaluated by a panel comprised of SGAC and the ISS Crew Fund representatives.

The essay evaluation will be made based on a point system taking following criteria and their weights into consideration:

• Scientific Content and Detail (40%)
• Originality (40%)
• Description of Concept (20%)

Schedule

Contact

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

Previous winners

2018: Helen Tung (United Kingdom/Australia), Hafizuddin Mohd Lowhim (Malaysia), Matej Poliacek (Slovakia), Thomas Cheney (United Kingdom).

2017: Marc Rovira (Spain), Daria Stepanova (Russia), Ian Benecken (Germany), Yuri Shimane (Japan), Zoe Townsend (United Kingdom).