Reach new heights at Europe's leading astronomy organisation

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) invites applications for the ESO Fellowship Programme 2026/2027. The Programme is designed to help early career scientists to develop their independent research programmes and successfully reach the next step of their scientific careers by:

• Developing their scientific profiles benefiting from a rich and structured scientific environment where they can interact with more senior scientists.
• Becoming mature and independent researchers who will develop their own research projects and contribute effectively to collaborative scientific endeavours.
• Getting prepared to take on higher scientific, technical or supervisory/managerial responsibilities in future positions.
• Developing their understanding of instrumental and observational techniques through supporting observatory operations to improve their scientific understanding and prepare for a future career in observational astronomy.

Fellowships are available both at ESO's Headquarters in Garching near Munich, Germany, and at ESO's astronomy centre in Santiago, Chile. ESO Fellows are expected to actively participate in ESO's scientific life by proposing and contributing to the organisation of scientific workshops, co-supervising PhD students, coordinating thematic research groups, joining scientific committees, organising seminars, writing competitive grant and telescope proposals, among other activities.

ESO Fellowships in Chile are granted for four years. During the first three years, the Fellows are assigned duties within one of the Science Operation groups of Paranal or ALMA, where they contribute to observatory operations at a level of 80 nights per year, corresponding to 50% of their working time. Fellows with duties at ALMA will have opportunities to participate in ALMA operations at both the Joint Alma Observatory in Santiago and at the Operations Support Facility near San Pedro de Atacama, including observing at the telescope, data processing and analysis, software testing, serving as technical experts in the ALMA proposal review process, and developing new capabilities for the array. Visits to and duties at the ESO ALMA Regional Center at the ESO Headquarters in Munich are also possible. At Paranal, Fellows act as support astronomers, executing service-mode observations or helping visiting astronomers to achieve their scientific goals. They are also expected to join an Instrument Operations Team. In the role of Instrument Fellow, they gain an in-depth knowledge of various aspects of a given instrument such as engineering and technological characteristics, specific operational aspects, and data quality. In these environments, ESO-Chile Fellows can develop useful skills in project management, team coordination, and communication in a multi-disciplinary environment. Exploiting this unique mix of technical knowledge and their close contact with the science carried out at the Observatories, ESO-Chile Fellows can build a solid research programme that can boost their future career. The ideal candidate should demonstrate comprehension of general science cases outside the candidate's field of research, have good communication skills, should work independently, have time management skills, and should be willing to take personal responsibility for their work.

ESO-Chile Fellows may choose to spend the fourth year at any astronomy/astrophysics institute in an ESO member state or ESO's strategic partner, Australia. The Fellow may also be hosted by a Chilean institution where they will be eligible to apply for telescope time through competition for Chilean observing time. There is also the possibility to spend the fourth year at ESO either in Santiago or Garching. There are no functional duties during the fourth year. However, in the case that the year is spent at ESO Chile, Fellows can request to carry out functional work for up to 25% of their time (equivalent for 40 nights of observing).

Qualifications

The programme is open to applicants who will have obtained their PhD in astronomy, physics or a related discipline before 1 November 2027. Early-career scientists from all astrophysical fields are welcome to apply. Observational, theoretical and computational astrophysics are all areas where ESO Fellows can benefit from one of the most vibrant and stimulating scientific settings anywhere in the world.