Our team and mission

This position is based at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) - Noordwijk, Netherlands

Under the direct authority of the Director of Technology, Engineering and Quality, the Product Assurance and Safety Department is responsible for the establishment and implementation of the ESA policy, requirements, and standards with respect to quality. It is responsible for the provision of required expertise and support services to ESA projects, support Directorates and research activities in the Product Assurance and Safety disciplines, applied to all elements of space systems (ground and on-board), including hardware, software, and humans. Product Assurance and Safety disciplines comprise Product Assurance management, technical risk management, dependability, safety, quality assurance, EEE components, parts materials, and processes assurance, with support from the other TEC Departments engineering, expertise, and laboratories. 

This internship opportunity is available under the direct authority of the Knowledge Management Unit, in the Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality of the Agency. The Unit has the mission to both propose objectives for and coordinate all aspects of implementation of knowledge management in ESA, through the assurance of the capture, retention and sharing of expertise, in direct support of ESA as a Learning Organisation.

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

Field(s) of activity for the internship

Topic: Exploitation of ESA Knowledge Management Information Systems 

ESA possesses a wealth of information – documents, repositories, and information system – that hold a distilled amount of our knowledge and expertise. Considering the sheer volume of knowledge ESA has accumulated over the years, this a wealth of information that needs to be mapped, organized, analysed, distilled, and transformed into actionable insights. That's where Artificial Intelligence/Natural Language Processing come in – they're the tools that can sift through this vast treasure trove and extract the gems hidden within.
 

As an intern, your task will be to undertake research, assessment and mapping of existing data and information systems to identify key sources of explicit knowledge, assess their data maturity and reliability, and look for potential relationships to create value from their combination and integration. You will then harness the power of Artificial Intelligence/Natural Language Processing technologies to process these substantial volumes of documents and repositories efficiently, and extract trends and/or insights and/or metadata and possibly enrich the knowledge graph. Your work will not exist in isolation. It will contribute to the ongoing Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing efforts within ESA, creating a cohesive system for knowledge management.

Your internship at ESA will be a hands-on experience in the critical role that Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing play in making sense of this knowledge.

Behavioural competencies

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

Education

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.

Additional requirements

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.

Additional Requirements:

• Data Science
• Proven programming skills (e.g. Phython, or other scripting languages) 
• Advanced knowledge of data processing and manipulation techniques including:  AI techniques such as natural language processing (NLP) and knowledge graphs and Text mining techniques 
• A good understanding of knowledge management techniques, including knowledge mapping and knowledge capture and dissemination techniques, 
• Good familiarity with Microsoft 365 suite – including Power Automate and its AI capabilities