Estonian National Graduate Trainee in Robotics - European Space Agency (Harwell)

About this position

The summary below is published by European Space Agency on the official vacancy notice. Our own analysis — salary realism, comparable openings, career trajectory, language profile — follows further down the page.

Key responsibilities

According to the vacancy notice, the role centres on the following duties:

• Demonstrate disruptive technologies such as Virtual/Augmented Reality, collaborative robotics and their potential use cases for exploration
• Investigate novel concepts in the domain of Space Resources/In-Situ Resource Utilisation, to enable sustainable human exploration
• Work on topics related to 'off world living', e.g. human factors, design and concept illustration
• Contribute to Spaceship ECSAT projects in remote manipulation, surface mobility, embedded systems and human-machine interfaces
• Support development of the VULCAN facility at ECSAT for simulant development and curation activities

Are you eligible?

Check these requirements from the notice before investing time in an application:

• Education: Master's degree in Robotics, Computer Science or affiliated fields (just completed or in final year)
• Experience: Relevant experience gained during internships, project work and/or extracurricular or other activities. Previous experience of working in international teams can be considered an asset.
• Key skills: Knowledge of relevant technical/functional domains, General knowledge of the space sector and relevant activities, Knowledge of ESA and its programmes/projects, Good interpersonal and communication skills, Ability to work in a multicultural environment, Ability to work both independently and as part of a team
• Eligibility: Sponsored by an ESA Member State or Associate Member under a bilateral partnership agreement

Selection process

The notice describes the following selection steps:

• Assessment against position requirements
• Evaluation of background and knowledge of space policies and related activities of the sponsoring State
• Exploration of motivation, overall professional perspective and career goals

Contract and working arrangements

Contract duration: National Graduate Trainee Programme with same employment conditions as ESA's own Graduate Trainee Programme.

Working arrangements: ECSAT, Harwell, United Kingdom.

Hiring unit: Directorate of Human and Robotic Exploration, Spaceship ECSAT.

Position details

Reference

1437025233

Last Verified

18 September 2026

Position overview

This is the official EU Careers listing for Estonian National Graduate Trainee in Robotics at ESA based in Harwell (Traineeship). The vacancy reference is 1437025233.

Job Requisition ID:20893

Date Posted:15 September 2026

Closing Date:13 October 2026 23:59 CET/CEST

Publication:External Only

Type of Appointment (learn more):National Graduate Trainee

Directorate:Human and Robotic Exploration

The ESA National Graduate Trainee (NGT) Programmes offer recent Master’s graduates the opportunity to gain practical, hands-on experience at ESA across a range of space-related disciplines. The programmes are essentially similar to ESA’s own Graduate Trainee Programme, notably in offering the same employment conditions. They however differ in one important respect: each NGT Programme is funded by an individual ESA Member State or Associate Member under a bilateral partnership agreement concluded with ESA. As a result, a representative of the sponsoring State participates in the selection process. In addition to assessing candidates against the requirements of the position, the selection may also include an evaluation of their background and knowledge of the space policies and related activities of the sponsoring State.

Location

ECSAT, Harwell, United Kingdom

Our team and mission

The Directorate of Human and Robotic Exploration is the main ESA entity in charge of supporting and coordinating efforts towards the current and the future endeavours of human spaceflight. The exploration activities are part of the strategic plans in securing a central role for Europe with respect to the global initiatives. The strategy includes three destinations where humans will work with robots to gather new knowledge: Low Earth Orbit (LEO), the Moon, and Mars.

The “Spaceship ECSAT” initiative is investigating low Technology Readiness Level (TRL) technologies for supporting the future cislunar space mission as well as surface activities on the Moon as part of the Exploration Preparation, Research and Technology (ExPeRT) team. This multidisciplinary, innovation-driven team composed by researchers, graduate and undergraduate students is based at the ESA European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT). The founding idea behind this initiative is to prepare the future of Space exploration. To do so, a pragmatic and research focused approach is adopted, and knowledge acquired is disseminated within ESA, partners and the relevant scientific community.

The Spaceship team is also involved in supporting the development of our VULCAN facility at ECSAT. This facility is designed to be a focal point for simulant development (including regolith, rocks etc.) and curation activities in Europe for Space Applications, with a focus on Exploration and Science. It provides expertise to ESA, its member states, and potentially worldwide regarding analogue and simulant materials.

We are continually looking for innovative applicants with skills or interests in these areas to join the Spaceship ECSAT team.

For more information on the Spaceship ECSAT, please look at the ESA blog (ESA - Spaceship ECSAT).

You are encouraged to visit the ESA website: http://www.esa.int

Field(s) of activity/research for the traineeship

Within Spaceship ECSAT, we have a number of fields where we carry out different projects. Our team is always on the lookout for talented and motivated persons to join our projects and contribute to ESA’s exploration activities. The main areas into which the initiative is currently active are remote manipulation, surface mobility, embedded systems and human-machine interfaces.

Some of the topics you may be working on as a National Graduate Trainee are the following:

- demonstrating disruptive technologies such as Virtual/Augmented Reality, collaborative robotics and their potential use cases for exploration; - investigating novel concepts in the domain of Space Resources/In-Situ Resource Utilisation, to enable sustainable human exploration; - topics related to ‘off world living’, e.g. human factors, design and concept illustration.

Technical competencies

Knowledge of relevant technical/functional domains

Relevant experience gained during internships, project work and/or extracurricular or other activities

General knowledge of the space sector and relevant activities

Knowledge of ESA and its programmes/projects

Behavioural competencies

Education

You should have just completed, or be in the final year of your master’ s degree in Robotics, Computer science or affiliated fields.

Additional requirements

You should have good interpersonal and communication skills and should be able to work in a multicultural environment, both independently and as part of a team. Previous experience of working in international teams can be considered an asset. Your motivation, overall professional perspective and career goals will also be explored during the later stages of the selection process.

Application timeline

This vacancy was first listed on 15 September 2026, 5 days ago.

The application deadline is 13 October 2026, 22 days from today. Late applications are not accepted, so submit through the official EU Careers portal well in advance.

Last verified against the EU Careers feed on 18 September 2026 (2 days ago).

Where to learn more

For headcount, mission, and other open vacancies at ESA see the ESA institution page; for the cost of living, correction coefficient, and other postings in Harwell see our Harwell location page.

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