2. Science communication (videomaking, visualization, inclusive communication, and/or story writing)

ESA supervisor: Jos de Bruijne
Collaborator(s): Tineke Roegiers and Johannes Sahlmann

Site: ESTEC

The Gaia mission was built to map the Milky Way with unprecedented precision and has brought a golden age for astronomy. Its data cover more than 2 billion stars and other objects, extending from the Milky Way to the Solar System and to remote quasars and galaxies. The next data release, Gaia DR4,  is planned for December 2026 and will consist of a huge catalogue with diverse data products on stars, exoplanets, black holes, variable stars, asteroids, galaxies, quasars, moons, and much more.
 
The intern will work with the Gaia mission scientists team while it prepares for this major milestone. This internship offers a unique chance to take part in the preparation of outreach and communication material. In parallel to the preparations for Gaia Data Release 4, general science communications for the Gaia mission continue. Dependent on the skills and interest of the intern, the project can be focused on videomaking, visualization, inclusive communication, and/or story writing. Potential topics are: writing outreach stories on scientific results based on Gaia data, preparatory outreach activities for Gaia DR4 including story design, material creation, organization, etc., creation of Gaia posters, creation of promotional short videos, creation of visualizations and/or infographics, creation of sonifications based on Gaia data, and more.

Some examples of the material produced and coordinated by the Gaia mission team can be found at https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia/dr3-stories.

Project duration: 6 months.

Desirable expertise or programming language:

  • The internship is most suitable for candidates with an education in media/communication with some knowledge of astronomy or for candidates with a broad knowledge of astronomy with some affinity for media/communication.
  • We expect the candidate to be interested in science story writing, and to ideally have one out of these three skills: visualization, video making, sonification.
  • Since we are producing material in English, we expect a C2 level in reading, writing, and speaking. Knowledge of other languages is an asset.
  • The topics will be ranging across different areas of astronomy, so the ability to understand new concepts quickly will be helpful.
  • Because we are producing material based on the Gaia catalogue, experience working with Gaia data would be an asset.
  • We expect the intern to be proactive and to have some skills to work with the distributed and diverse groups in our Gaia community.
  • Experience with the development of educational material is an asset.
  • Some knowledge or experience with web development, mostly being quick to learn new website tools, would be an asset.

To apply for this project please fill in an online application form through the following link.

To see the full list of Internships available at ESA please go to our website for ESA Career Opportunities.