The Portuguese Space Agency, Portugal Space, launches the second call for its doctoral program, for the award of scholarships. This initiative, promoted by the Agency and supported by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), aims to attract ideas and projects related to Research and Technological Development for Space Exploration .
The call is aimed at students who want to pursue their doctorates in the fields of Propulsion, Systems and Mission Analysis, Orbital Mechanics, Robotics, Structures and Materials, as well as Recycling, Manufacturing and Use of Resources in-situ (for example, mining of asteroids), from a technological / engineering approach.
In this second call , the Portuguese Space Agency intends to reach out to researchers who are pursuing doctoral studies in fields that can contribute to increasing the sustainability of space exploration, who are involved in research and technological development projects that consider the growing need for autonomy and solutions sustainable.
In the next decade, space exploration will have a strong development, thanks to the accessibility to new technological developments that facilitate access to space and that. they transform the way new missions are conducted, such as manufacturing in space and using resources in-situ. All of these new approaches will require a high level of space resource management.
Topics such as the use of energy in space, the storage of resources, the type of materials and how they can be reused are increasingly important elements in the definition of a mission, since they allow the creation of more efficient and sustainable projects.
In addition to studying a more rational use of Earth’s resources in space, it is necessary to study and develop technology that allows the transformation and use of existing space resources to support future space missions, including allowing access to water and oxygen, and building infrastructure.
“Space sciences and technologies have played a significant role in promoting social and economic advances in recent decades. This investment not only benefits the space sector, but also promotes the development of subsequent activities that can function as important resources to provide information and help to increase the quality of life on Earth ”, says Inês d’Ávila, project manager for the PhD scholarships at Portugal Space.
The Agency intends to stimulate and contribute to a strengthening of cooperation within the Portuguese scientific community, as well as with international partners and with industry, thus encouraging technological advances for space exploration.
For the purpose of evaluating the applications, Portugal Space invited a group of recognized experts in the fields related to this competition. The jury is composed by Afzal Suleman (IST- Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal), while chairman, Angelo Cervone (TU Delft – Delft University of Technology, Netherlands), Alfred Ng (CSA – Canadian Space Agency, Canada), Yang Gao ( University of Surrey, United Kingdom) and Pedro Caície (FEUP – Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Portugal).
This contest will award up to three doctoral scholarships. Applications will be open until March 3, 2021 and will have to be submitted through the European Space Agency ‘s Open Space Innovation Platform – OSIP .