Applications open for Alpbach Summer School 2011
This year, the summer school will be held from 19-28 July and will focus on the theme “Star Formation across the Universe”. Applications should be submitted before March 31, 2011.
Held annually since 1975, the Alpbach Summer School enjoys a long tradition in providing in-depth teaching on different topics of space science and technology with the aim of advancing the training and working experience of European graduates, post-graduate students, young scientists and engineers.
The purpose of the summer school is to foster the practical application of knowledge derived from lectures, to develop organisational and team-work skills and to encourage creativity. Teams will compete to design the best project, judged by an independent jury. The teams themselves are responsible for the selection of the subject of the project and for the team structure and working methods.
The Summer School Alpbach 2011 will address innovative mission concepts aiming to increase our knowledge of key processes of star formation. Stars are the building blocks of the universe, and the problem of how stars form is at the core of contemporary astrophysics. The lectures will give an overview of the current knowledge of star formation on all scales as well as an overview over current missions and techniques.
Prospective summer school students will meet great challenges, such as in real life. These include 20-hour working days (before proposal submittal), sudden immersion into new fields and techniques, as well as the difficulties of forming and working together as a team, with scientists listening to engineers and engineers listening to scientists. However, on day ten, the reward will be a proposal for a unique space mission.
The summer school is open to 60 selected young science and engineering students and graduates from among the Member and Cooperating states of ESA. The working language will be English.
Applications should be submitted online via the Alpbach Summer School website to FFG before 31 March 2011. Confirmation of acceptance will be given by the end of April 2011.
A registration fee of O400 will be charged, but participants may be eligible for financial support from their national sponsoring agencies or universities. Registration forms and further information are available on the Alpbach Summer School website.
The Alpbach Summer School is organised by the Aeronautics and Space Agency of the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG). It is co-sponsored by ESA and the national space authorities of its Member and Cooperating States, with the support of the International Space Science Institute and Austrospace.
