ESA opens doors for students to carry out experiments as part of their theses

The European Space Agency (ESA) has opened applications for three programs, Fly Your Thesis!, Spin Your Thesis! and Drop Your Thesis! which are open until September 9, November 25 and November 4, respectively.

The Program Fly Your Thesis! Program allows teams to design, build and test their experiments on a parabolic flight, which is scheduled for the end of 2019. In the application they must detail the experiments they intend to carry out and describe how these are a fundamental part of their master's or doctoral thesis, and the subject of the experiments must require microgravity conditions.

In its 10th edition, the Spin Your Thesis! program challenges students to test their experiments in hypergravity conditions in ESA's Large Diameter Centrifuge (LDC). This centrifuge is eight meters in diameter, performs experiments with up to 80 kg of mass and when spinning simulates the force of gravity up to 20 times more than that tested on the Earth's surface.

With the Drop Your Thesis! program, participants will be able to observe a drop of their experiment from a height of 120 meters, which during this moment reaches "microgravity" similar to the perpetual free fall of being in orbit. This opportunity to "drop" the essay in a specialized facility is a more affordable option than launching it into space.

Through these programs, students have the opportunity to carry out trials, tests and experiments as part of their master's and doctoral theses, in a different environment from the usual laboratories where they carry out their analyses and studies.