21 Portuguese in Technological Internships at CERN, ESA and ESO

The Technological Internship program at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Southern Observatory (ESO) provides training opportunities for young Portuguese graduates in areas where the competence of these organizations is internationally recognized.

In the 2013 Call for Technological Internship Studentships , which took place between September and October, FCT awarded 21 Studentships in different organizations: ten internships will take place at ESA, ten at CERN and one at ESO. Among the internship possibilities available in each organization, applications were valued in areas that have greater thematic relevance for the country, namely areas indicated by industry, and others appropriate to the experiences and programs in which Portugal participates. The areas selected range from Mechanical Engineering and Electronic Engineering to Computing, Physics and Materials, among others.

The FCT has succeeded the Innovation Agency in managing this Internship Program since the end of 2012, and promotes not only the awarding of internship Studentships but also the selection of candidates and the monitoring of the work carried out by the interns. As a result of protocols signed with these organizations, this program has placed more than 250 trainees in the three international organizations since 1996, contributing significantly to increasing the competitiveness of national companies.