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 D:

Project D: A turbulent youth: Investigating the conditions of planetary birthplaces

Supervisors: Jochen Stadler, Anna Miotello

During their formation, baby stars are surrounded by a circumstellar disk composed of molecular gas and dust. From the material within these protoplanetary disks, planets eventually form. Observations made with the ALMA Observatory reveal that the millimeter dust emission of these disks exhibits a variety of substructures, most commonly observed are gaps and rings. These structures are believed to arise from variations in the gas pressure within the disk. Dust rings are prime places for the formation of planetary cores.

In this project, we will analyze the unprecedented data from the exoALMA Large Program to investigate the width of the rings seen in dust emission in relation to the widths of the underlying gas pressure, as traced via the CO molecular line emission. By comparing these measurements, we aim to assess the level of turbulent motion within these rings. This analysis will offer insights into the physical mechanisms that form these dust rings and their potential to form protoplanets.

During the summer research program, the student will gain valuable insights into the field of planet formation and will learn how to analyze high-angular-resolution ALMA data.