LEAPS 2025 will take place from June 16 to August 22, 2025.
LEAPS is an opportunity for students with an interest in astronomy and astrophysics
to perform a 10 week summer research project in collaboration with a research scientist
from Leiden Observatory or ESA/ESTEC. The program is open to all students not currently
engaged in a Ph.D. program (please see the full eligibility criteria)
We would like to use LEAPS as an opportunity to increase the diversity of researchers in Astronomy as we understand that successful science is supported by this.
Students are selected for the program based on their academic achievements
and research potential. Each applicant has the opportunity to choose up to two projects of interest,
and they are selected by project advisors based on what they
indicate their scientific interests and experience to be. Research at Leiden Observatory and ESA/ESTEC
takes place on a diverse array of topics (see below for LEAPS 2025 projects), and
student projects will likely consist of anything from the analysis of data from
world-class telescopes, to large computer simulations, to hands-on work in the astrochemistry laboratories.
Leiden Observatory (located in the Gorlaeus Building, Einsteinweg 55, 2333 CC, Leiden) is a world-class institute for research in astronomy and astrophysics based in the Netherlands, approximately 35km from Amsterdam. The atmosphere at the observatory is dynamic, with approximately 100 faculty/research scientists and 70 graduate students engaged in astrophysical research on a wide range of topics. Major fields of interest include extrasolar planets, star formation, cosmology, galaxy formation, instrumentation, and astrochemistry. Multiple research projects will likely be available within these fields.
ESTEC is ESA’s largest establishment, and its technical and organisational hub. It is based at Keplerlaan 1, 2201AZ, Noordwijk, around 10 km from Leiden Central Station. ESA develops and manages many types of space missions,
from exploration, telecommunications, to earth and space science. The Research and
Scientific Support Department at ESTEC consists of approximately 40 staff scientists,
with research interests ranging from the geology of planets in our solar system, to
plasma physics in the magnetosphere of the Earth, space weather, to observational
astronomy with ESA's space missions such as Planck, Herschel, GAIA and EUCLID.
Students accepted into the LEAPS program will be provided with travel costs to/from Leiden. We will also provide housing accommodations near the observatory, a modest stipend to help with living costs during the internship (approximately 197 EUR/week), and health insurance. Leiden is a small, picturesque university town located between the major cities of Amsterdam and The Hague. Summer is a beautiful time of year to be in Leiden, and we encourage LEAPS students to socialize and use their free time to enjoy the numerous summertime activities available in Holland. English is widely spoken throughout the Netherlands and international students should find it easy to live in the Leiden area. We are planning several field trips for LEAPS students including visits to the ESTEC complex where many ESA satellites are being built, and potentially to the LOFAR radio array, the world's largest low-frequency radio telescope.
Application portal will open in January 2025.
Students should be sufficiently proficient in English to perform a research project. Please see FAQ for the full eligibility criteria.
For ESA projects (denoted by 'ESA' in the title), in case of equivalent qualifications, preference will be given to nationals of or applicants currently residing in one of the following ESA Member States, Associate Member States, or (European) Cooperating States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
Applications for the LEAPS program require that you select two projects from the Research Project list that you are most interested in working on. The Research Project list for the LEAPS 2025 program will public by the end of the year. You will also be required to submit the following documents (in PDF format):
Please note: not following the above requirements will result in a rejection of your application!
Once you have submitted your application, or saved a draft version, an email will be sent to your reference letter writer requesting the letter. Students will be evaluated for participation in the program on the basis of their research potential and match to available projects in their area(s) of interest.
If you have any questions about the application process or the program, please consult the FAQ page. If you have any questions that are not answered on the FAQ page, please .
There will be 9 projects on offer for LEAPS 2025.
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