Save the Date - 2026 ESA Directorate of Science Town Hall
This is a first announcement of the 2026 Director of Science Town Hall, to be held virtually on 24 June, from 14:00 to 16:00 CEST.
The ESA Science Town Halls provide an opportunity for direct exchange between the Directorate's Executive and the broader scientific community. The 2026 Town Hall will include the latest updates on ESA's Science Programme and provide a preview of upcoming developments. There will also be an opportunity to address your questions about the programme.
Call for Expressions of Interest to become Member of the AWG/SSEWG and/or SSAC
ESA’s science advisory structure is the main channel for ensuring an effective relationship between ESA and the scientific community in Europe. It is an essential element for interpreting the views and needs of the scientific community regarding access to space experimentation and use of Science Programme data.
The Director of Science issues an annual call inviting scientists affiliated with institutions in the ESA Member States to express their interest in becoming members of the Space Science Advisory Committee (SSAC), the Astronomy Working Group (AWG), and the Solar System and Exploration Working Group (SSEWG).
If you have already applied to a previous call there is no need to reapply unless there has been a substantial change in your affiliation and/or profile.
ESA has selected 6 new Fellows to pursue their own independent research in space science, starting in 2026.
The 2026 Research Fellows in space science are Emma Esparza-Borges, Ekaterina Ilin, Gregor Rihtaršič, Peter Stephenson, Paola I. Tiranti, and Jiří Žák. Their research spans a broad range of topics in the fields of heliophysics, planetary science, astrophysics, and fundamental physics. For example, they will investigate the nature of dark matter using galaxy cluster collisions, learn how Jupiter’s atmosphere works using the observations of the famous Great Red Spot, and explore the evolutionary pathways of exoplanets.
The next call for the ESA Research Fellowship in Space Science is expected to open in August 2026.
Plato’s Guest Observers Programme: AO-1 Call now open
ESA is looking forward to Plato (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars), scheduled for launch in under a year. Plato will monitor a wide field for several years, delivering imagettes and light curves for hundreds of thousands of stars. Its goals include detecting terrestrial planets in habitable zones and advancing asteroseismology, with most data becoming public shortly after validation.
ESA now invites Guest Observer proposals for complementary science. The First Announcement of Opportunity opened on 7 April and will close on 21 May, offering 8% telemetry for new targets, upgraded modes, and a proprietary access period. Proposers are encouraged to review the available material, join community initiatives, and submit their research ideas.
Integral legacy user validation & feedback exercise on 22 June 2026
The final phases of development of the Integral Legacy Archive (ISLA) are well underway, and representatives of the scientific community will convene on 22 June 2026, 10:30-12:00 CEST for an online presentation of the archive with opportunity to advise on usability or user friendliness. Inspired by the presentation, ideas may come up how externals can help, e.g., contribution of community products.
Members of the public are welcome. Information on how to join is available on the webpage.
Vacancy: Science Operations System Engineer for Juice
ESA's Directorate of Science is looking for a Science Operations System Engineer, to be based at ESAC (Madrid, Spain).
In this role, the Science Operations System Engineer is supporting the design, implementation, testing and maintenance of science ground segment systems, and they will be initially assigned to the Juice mission.
The Juice Science Operations Centre at ESAC (Madrid, Spain) is responsible for the science planning, data processing and archiving activities of ESA’s contribution to the missions’s science operations. The Science Operations System Engineer will work in close collaboration with the development and operations team, Project Scientist, Mission Operations Centre at ESOC, and Instrument Teams.
The X-ray Universe 2026 8-11 June 2026, Elche, Spain
This conference is the seventh meeting in the "The X-ray Universe" series, aimed at encompassing a broad range of high-energy astrophysics topics, from solar system studies to cosmology. It will provide a showcase for results and discoveries from XMM-Newton and other missions, discussing as well the scientific potential of future missions and the evolution of the scientific analysis landscape.
PV 2026 - Ensuring Long-Term Preservation and Adding Value to Scientific and Technical Data 23-25 June 2026, ESAC, Villanueva de la Canada, Madrid, Spain and online PV 2026 bring together the community to present and discuss the experiences, feedback and prospects for efficient scientific and technical data management systems along a variety of themes including long-term data preservation, adding value to data and facilitation of data use, impact of AI and ML, governance, funding and policy for long term preservation, and metrics for data archives usage.
Europlanet Science Congress - TP18: BepiColombo nears Mercury 7 - 11 September 2026, The Hague, The Netherlands
A dedicated topical session at the EPSC2026 will focus on the BepiColombo mission and the exploration of Mercury, bringing together the community to discuss the mission’s latest results and scientific prospects as it prepares for orbital operations around the innermost planet. The session will highlight new insights into Mercury’s interior, surface, exosphere and magnetosphere, placing BepiColombo’s upcoming measurements on the front line of planetary research.
INTEGRAL Legacy Conference 2026 19 - 23 October 2026, Orsay, France INTEGRAL is crucial in our understanding of high energy astrophysical phenomena, permitting studies of bright transient events, which made it a cornerstone for multi-messenger astronomy, and of elusive signals from faint gamma-ray sources. This has fostered collaborations with other missions that will enhance INTEGRAL's legacy in supporting new missions and answering new astrophysical questions.
European Space Agency, D/SCI Directorate of Science
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