Internal Research Fellow (PostDoc) in Differentiable Programming/Intelligence

Internal Research Fellow (PostDoc) in Differentiable Programming/Intelligence

Our team and mission

This research fellowship will be carried out in ESA’s Advanced Concepts Team (ACT): a team of research fellows (post-docs) and young graduates who originate from a broad variety of academic fields and are aiming for an academic career. Its task is to monitor, perform and foster research on advanced space systems, innovative concepts and working methods. It interacts externally almost exclusively with academia and operates as a truly interdisciplinary team bound to high scientific standards. Through its research, the team acts as a pathfinder to explore novel, potentially promising areas for ESA and the space sector, ranging from applied to basic fundamental research topics. An important task of the team is to communicate scientific trends and results, as input to the strategic planning of the Agency.

The team has been at the forefront of research in differentiable programming and intelligence, particularly in its applications in space flight mechanics, advanced guidance and navigation and space systems in general. Candidates are encouraged to review the team’s previous projects and are expected to expand this domain by exploring uncharted and novel areas.

Applicants are strongly advised to familiarise themselves with the research conducted by the ACT (https://www.esa.int/act) and explore the associated open-source projects.

You are encouraged to visit the ESA website: https://www.esa.int/

Field(s) of activity/research for the traineeship

You will carry out research in the field of differentiable programming/intelligence. The end-to-end differentiation of generic and complex computer programs (including control flows, data structures, and possibly memory) allows for the exploitation of any-order differentials to obtain transformative effects on the resulting algorithms and pipelines. As an emerging paradigm, differentiable programming builds upon several areas of computer science and applied mathematics, including automatic differentiation, graphical models, Taylor models, optimisation, and statistics.

Scientifically, the candidate will, in particular:

• propose and perform research in the field of differentiable programming/intelligence, where appropriate, together with universities of ESA Member States (through the Ariadna scheme www.esa.int/ariadna);
• explore synergies between high-order automated differentiation and the fundamentals of spaceflight mechanics, celestial mechanics, mission design, and guidance and control systems;
• further develop open-source software developed by the ACT, for example, pygmo (optimisation), pykep (astrodynamics), dCGP (differentiable symbolic regression), pyaudi (high-order end-to-end differentiation), and heyoka (Taylor integration and automatic differentiation);
• organise, design, and administer competitions on proposed topics via the European Space Agency’s Kelvins platform and ooptimize platform;
• explore at least one area among:
• Uncertainty propagation using high-order differentials.
• Differentiable wind models for accurate re-entry simulations.
• High-order State Transition Tensors usages and efficient computation.
• Manoeuvre detection and estimation of non-cooperative space targets using differentiable propagators.
• EclipseNETs, geodesyNETs, G&CNETs, thermoNETs, or similar.

As an ACT researcher, the candidate will:

• publish results in peer-reviewed publications and use modern communication tools to engage with a broader audience inside and outside ESA;
• lead and assist interdisciplinary projects with other ACT researchers;
• participate, together with the team, in the assessment of proposed space system concepts—these not being restricted only to differentiable programming/intelligence—and propose new concepts and assessment studies;
• perform and participate in assessments on subjects of strategic interest to ESA and provide in-house expertise for strategy development;
• benefit from the technology and engineering expertise available at ESTEC for research.

Technical competencies

• Knowledge relevant to the field of research
• Research/publication record
• Ability to conduct research autonomously
• Breadth of exposure coming from past and/or current research/activities
• Ability to gather and share relevant information
• General interest in space and space research

Behavioural competencies

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

Education

You should have recently completed, or be close to completion of a PhD in celestial mechanics, aerospace engineering, applied maths, with the subject of the thesis being relevant to the description of the tasks outlined above.

Preference will be given to applications submitted by candidates within five years of receiving their PhD.

Additional requirements

In addition to your CV and your motivation letter, please prepare a research proposal of no more than 5 pages. This proposal should be uploaded to the "additional documents" field of the "application information" section.

You should also have:

• Ability for and interest in prospective interdisciplinary research.
• Aptitude to contextualise specialised areas of research and quickly assess their potential with respect to other domains and applications (rapid prototyping).
• Academic networking to add functioning links to universities and research institutes.
• Ability to work in a team, while being able to work individually regarding your own personal research plans and directions.
• Natural curiosity and a passion for new subjects and research areas.
• Proficiency in C++ and Python programming languages.
• Experience in open source projects, GPU programming, distributed computing and cloud computing are considered to be strong assets.

The position of Research Fellow at ESA’s Advanced Concepts Team (ACT) is similar to a regular academic Post-Doc placement, however with a few notable key differences:

1. ACT RFs have no teaching obligations. Nonetheless, they will likely be involved in the mentoring of ESA Graduate Trainees and stagiaires (student interns) within the team.
2. As the team does not have a professor-like position, ACT RFs are academically more independent than most post-docs. This implies more freedom but also more responsibility for their research directions and approaches.
3. ACT RFs join a diverse, changing and interdisciplinary research team embedded in a large space agency, in contrast to a more specialised, focused research group with close or similar competences.
4. ACT RFs need to actively reach out to other disciplines, to bring in their competences to interdisciplinary research projects and to encourage other researchers to join them in their core research projects (research at the intersections of disciplines).
5. ACT RFs need to communicate their expertise and research results internally and externally, including potential implications and importance for ESA’s long-term strategy.

You should also have good interpersonal and communication skills and should be able to work in a multi-cultural environment, both independently and as part of a team. Your motivation, overall professional perspective and career goals will also be explored during the later stages of the selection process.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness
ESA is an equal opportunity employer, committed to achieving diversity within the workforce and creating an inclusive working environment. We therefore welcome applications from all qualified candidates irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, beliefs, age, disability or other characteristics. Applications from women are encouraged.

At the Agency we value diversity, and we welcome people with disabilities. Whenever possible, we seek to accommodate individuals with disabilities by providing the necessary support at the workplace. The Human Resources Department can also provide assistance during the recruitment process. If you would like to discuss this further, please contact us via email at contact.human.resources@esa.int.

Important Information and Disclaimer
During the recruitment process, the Agency may request applicants to undergo selection tests. Additionally, successful candidates will need to undergo basic screening before appointment, which will be conducted by an external background screening service, in compliance with the European Space Agency's security procedures.

The information published on ESA’s careers website regarding working conditions is correct at the time of publication. It is not intended to be exhaustive and may not address all questions you would have.

Nationality and Languages
Please note that applications can only be considered from nationals of one of the following States: Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Nationals from Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia, as Associate Member States, or Canada as a Cooperating State, can apply as well as those from Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Malta as European Cooperating States (ECS).

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.