The European Space Agency (ESA) Grant Programme ai ms to encourage original research on any aspect of the history of the ESA a nd its predecessor organisations.

Two grants of EUR 5000, funded by E SA and administered by the European University Institute (EUI), may be awar ded each year to support research based on the historical fonds of the organisation that are deposited at the Historical Archives of the European Union.  

Selected candidates enjoy a unique research experience at the HAEU, embedded in the international scholarly community of the EUI in Flore nce.

Eligibility

The grant competition is open to post-gradua te students and early career academics in history and other social sciences and humanities who are either nationals of or are affiliated with an acade mic institution in ESA Memb er, Associate or Cooperating States.

These include current postgr aduate students (master’s and doctoral candidates), as well as postdoctoral researchers or university teachers who have completed a master’s degree or doctorate within ten years preceding the date of application, and are now pursuing a research career.

Research objectives of the ESA grant

The ESA grant is meant to increase knowledge about the origins of the E uropean Space Agency, the development of European space research, and the e volution of Europe’s activities in space. 

The research should f orm the basis for an academic publication (thesis, dissertation, book or sc holarly article) that provides an analysis of some dimension of the ESA, Eu ropean space research and/or Europe in space. Research projects presented b y postgraduate students or postdoctoral researchers should preferably relat e directly to their master’s or doctoral field of research.  

Candida tes should be aware that most of the ESA archival holdings are in English, while some are in French, German, Italian and other European languages.&nbs p;

Application Procedure and Deadline

The next call for appli cations will be open from 9 March - 1 June 2026.

Candidates must appl y through the online appli cation form once the call is open.

Applications and all supp orting documentation must be submitted in either English or French.

T o complete the online application, candidates should prepare the following files:

  • CV, including recent publications ( 2 pages maximum);
  • Presentation of the research proposal, including a description of the research subject and its relevance to the history of t he ESA, its academic significance, the proposed research methodology and ti metable, and plan for scholarly publication of the research results (5 page s maximum);
  • Bibliography of sources and studies related to the rese arch (5 pages maximum);
  • Justification of the need to use the ESA ar chival fonds at the HAEU in Florence (2 pages maximum);
  • Letter of r ecommendation from a university or university-level research institute prov iding an evaluation of the scholarly significance of the project and an ass essment of the candidate’s qualifications, abilities and motivation to carr y out the proposed research.

Selection

The ESA and the HAEU will organise the selection of the candidates, taking into considerati on the excellence of the application file, the significance and originality of the proposed research, the feasibility of the project, the project’s re levance to the history of the ESA, the candidate’s ability to carry out the research, and most importantly the necessity for using primary archival so urces at the HAEU.

The selection is based on equal treatment of appli cants, with no discrimination based on nationality (ethnic origin), race, c olour, religion or other beliefs, age, disability, sexual orientation and g ender of the applicants.

Grant Awards

Successful applicants w ill receive a research grant of EUR 5000.

The grant will be paid in t wo instalments:

  • a first instalment of EUR 2000 at the start of the research, as attested by the Director of the HAEU;
  • a second instalment of EUR 3000 after the research results have be en published by the grant holder and once the grant holder has informed the Director of the HAEU on the publication. The results must be published wit hin 30 months after the grant is taken up.
  • The publication shall be issued at the latest 36 months from when the grant was attributed.

    • Publications and Commitments

    Grant holders undertake to ensure that all subsequent publications or productions using in whole or in part the results obtained under the auspices of the research grant appropriately acknowledge the grant programme. In addition, they will provide ESA and th e HAEU with a copy of the publication. ESA and HAEU may invite the research er to present the outcome of the project and use the publication for promot ion and educational purposes.

    More information

    Questions abou t the European Space Agency (ESA) Grant Programme may be sent to Ques to indirizzo email è protetto dagli spambots. È necessario abilitare JavaSc ript per vederlo.