Intern in the Commercialisation Services Department

Internship Opportunity in the Directorate of Commercialisation, Industry and Competitiveness.

ESA is an equal opportunity employer, committed to achieving diversity within the workforce and creating an inclusive working environment. We therefore welcome applications from all qualified candidates irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, beliefs, age, disability or other characteristics. Applications from women are encouraged.

Location

Topic 1 can be based at
- The ESA HQ - Paris, France
- The European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) - Noordwijk, Netherlands

Topic 2 and 3 are based at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) - Noordwijk, Netherlands

CIC-S is the Commercialisation Services Department where ESA ScaleUp Programme resides. The ScaleUp programme is a key element of ESA’s commitment to accelerating space commercialisation for a green and digital Europe and supporting the growth of private investment in space. We promote game-changing New Space innovation by providing start-ups with technical, financial, and business support, and help businesses access global markets and investors to accelerate growth.

For further information visit our web site: http://www.esa.int

You can choose between the following topics:

1) Topic 1: INVEST, investors and finance

You will be involved in supporting ScaleUp INVEST activities. This includes: 

1. Space Market Research and Business Analysis: 

• Evaluate and identify potential candidate companies within the space sector, contributing to the growth and optimization of the ecosystem map. 
• Analyze business plans of applicant companies, evaluating their viability and alignment with industry trends. 
• Research and identify upcoming industry trends to provide insights for future thematic programme campaigns.

2. Communication and Relationship with the Industry: 

• Actively participate in promoting the ScaleUp programme to key stakeholders within the space industry. 
• Provide support to companies throughout their application process, offering guidance and assistance. 
• Collaborate with the Commercialization Gateway Marketing team to develop compelling and informative marketing materials. 

3. Reporting and Business Accelerator: 

• Collaborate on reporting and assessment tasks for the ScaleUp INVEST programme, with a particular focus on the ESA Business Accelerator and its future impact and growth. 
• Contribute to optimizing the reporting processes and strategies of the ScaleUp programme, with a particular focus on the ESA Business Accelerator. 
• Propose and implement a new reporting framework for the impact of ScaleUp INVEST, with a particular focus on the ESA Business Accelerator.

Topic 2: Innovation and technology trends: 

You will support the Innovation and Technology leads of the Innovation unit on the following matters: 

Innovation

• Innovation studies :You will support studies concerning intellectual property awareness and commercialization (e.g., patent insight reports) 
• Technology trends and spin-in opportunities: You will help to identify Innovation Seeds and emerging breakthrough technologies.  You will do so based on ESA Harmonization dossiers and ESA mission & strategy requirements. 
• Identification of candidate companies : You will identify possible candidate companies from ESA contracts to generate a deal flow for ESA Technology Brokers and ESA Φ-Labs, IP for Commercialization and Prepare4Space. 

Technology

Your tasks are: 

• Coordination of technical support requests. 
• Identification of technology trends and areas of opportunities. You will do so based on requests we received. 
• Lead on identification of candidate companies from ESA contracts to generate deal flow for Broker work, and IP for Commercialization and Prepare4Space.
  

3) Topic 3: Business Incubation 

You will work on two main topics: ESA BIC and Φ-LabNet Office. 

The ESA BIC & ΦLabNet Office represents a visible contribution to ESA’s entrepreneurial effort to boost green and digital commercialization. By tapping into Europe’s enterprising communities, the office is expeditiously extending the reach of European commercial space into the global economy and society at large. While the ESA Φ-Labs should support space related innovation with a high potential for commercialization, the ESA Business Incubation Centers (ESA BICs) focus on supporting entrepreneurs and early-stage start-ups using space related technologies and/or data. 

a)    ESA BICs:
The European Space Agency (ESA) has a network of ESA Business Incubation Centers (ESA BICs) across Europe. Each year around 250 startups with a space related business idea are selected for incubation. The ESA BICs helps these start-ups to develop and grow their businesses. ESA routinely collects information about the incubates and alumni of ESA BICs. So far this has mainly been done to evaluate the entire portfolio of start-ups in terms of field of activity, revenue, employment, and investments. To develop a better understanding of which kinds of early-stage start-ups have the highest growth potential, it would be useful to examine start-ups from their initial applications to their post-incubation activities. Such an understanding could help the ESA BICs in their selection of applicants and increase the probability of supporting high-potential start-ups ("moon shots"). Ultimately it may influence how ESA BIC start-ups are selected for incubation in the future. 

Your tasks will be to: 

• Process and Analyze data from start-ups on a portfolio level -Propose a way to estimate the growth potential of start-ups in order to support the selection of start-ups for the incubation programme 
• Propose an update to how start-ups are selected by ESA BICs, in order to increase the probability of finding high-potential startups for the programme 
• Identify opportunities for further atomization of ESA BIC data collection and data processing 
• Provide advice and support to ESA BICs on data management 
• Prepare presentations and reports on findings Work on this topic has already started in 2023. You will continue this work from where it finished and take it further towards implementation, focusing on the required changes to the current ESA BIC programme. 

b)    The second topic connects the Φ-Labs and the ESA BICs. 

The first Φ-Labs will be set up end 2023 and early 2024. They focus on early-stage innovation with a high potential for impact and should produce research and ideas that are ready for commercialization. 

Your tasks will be to: 

• Map out the first projects supported by Φ-Labs, understanding the (intended) readiness of the ideas for commercialization and identifying suitable ways for commercializing them (company spin-off, licensing, etc.) 
• Describe how ESA BICs have supported start-ups working with technologies that have a similar origin as those that will come from Φ-Labs, or a similar maturity level. 
• Identify suitable ways for ESA BICs to support the commercialization of ideas resulting from the Φ-Labs (hosting newly created spin-off companies, finding entrepreneurial teams to take ideas further, etc.) 
• Identify what specific needs such start-ups have, as well as how they can optimally be supported. This task will require you to work closely with one or several ESA BICs and Φ-Labs

Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward Thinking

You must have student status and be enrolled at university for the entire duration of the internship. You should preferably be in your final or second to last year of a university course at master’s level in a technical or scientific discipline.

The working languages of the Agency are English and French. A good knowledge of one of these is required. Knowledge of another Member State language would be an asset.

Other information

For behavioural competencies expected from ESA staff in general, please refer to the ESA Competency Framework.

If you require support with your application due to a disability, please email [email protected] .

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Please note that applications are only considered from nationals of one of the following States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Nationals from Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia, as Associate Member States, or Canada as a Cooperating State, can apply as well as those from Bulgaria, Croatia and Cyprus as European Cooperating States (ECS).