Within the Directorate for Science at its Headquarters in Garching, near Munich, Germany, ESO is inviting university students to apply to our ESO Summer Research Programme. The ESO Summer Research Programme is an opportunity for university students from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields who have not yet started a PhD programme and have completed at least two years of their degree.

Within the scope of this programme, there are seven exciting individual projects topics to choose from. Please visit https://eso.org/sci/meetings/2026/SummerResearch2026.html to review all seven project topics, as you can only apply to one.

Applications for the ESO Summer Research Programme will be considered from students taking any astronomy, physical science, computer science or mathematical degree subjects. However, it is expected that students have some knowledge of physics, programming, data analysis techniques and, preferably, astronomy.

Students will be selected for the programme based on their academic achievements, research potential and likelihood to significantly benefit from the experience. Particular attention will be given to the motivation of the students to join the programme and specific motivation for Project B:

Project B: Tracing shock-driven shaping of molecular clouds as a trigger for star formation

Supervisors: Elena Redaelli, Marta De Simone

Stars form from the collapse of overdensities in molecular clouds. But what triggers the formation of these overdensities and the subsequent gravitational collapse? External feedback, such as expanding bubbles or supernova-driven shocks, can compress the ambient gas and trigger sequences of shocks that reshape the cloud and promote star formation. This is, however, a difficult phenomenon to observe and characterise, and we still know little about it. This project will focus on examining NGC 1333 in the Perseus molecular cloud, a Solar-type star-forming region, where gas kinematics and chemistry show signs of shock-driven compression (De Simone et al. 2022a). Using astrochemistry, the most powerful diagnostic tool to infer the dynamical and chemical properties of star-forming regions, and analysing different molecular species (such as SiO, SO, H2CS, CH3OH, etc), the student will investigate how such energetic events can shape the morphology of the interstellar medium and the fate of future newborn stars.

During the project, the student will learn to work with IRAM 30m data using tools such as the Cube Analysis and Rendering Tool for Astronomy (CARTA) and custom Python scripts. They will create maps of different gas species, explore their velocity structure, and analyse emission spectra to derive quantitative information such as gas column densities and temperature. Through this work, the student will gain hands-on experience in millimetre data analysis, astrochemical interpretation, and the broader connection between interstellar shocks and star formation.