Summer Students Chile 2027

For the summer period 2027 starting early January, ESO is offering three projects for the Maintenance and Engineering Department (MSE), one project for the Paranal Science Operations Department (PSO) and one for IT Department. The following section provides brief information about MSE and PSO, along with the list of all available projects. TheMaintenance, Support and Engineering Department (MSE):provides technical support to the four VLT 8-m telescopes, to the VLT Interferometer with its auxiliary telescopes and to all instruments available for scientific observations. The MSE Department of Paranal has a total workforce of 80 engineers and technicians distributed in six engineering groups.References for MSE Dpt.http://www.eso.org/sci/facilities/paranal/paranalenginternship.html. See also the podcast about engineers working at ESO:https://www.eso.org/public/videos/esocast186a/TheParanal Science OperationsDepartment (PSO) consists of 60 persons of more than a dozen different nationalities. PSO's mission is the production of high-quality astronomical data and to maintain or improve the scientific performance of Paranal's instruments. This includes the VLTI 2nd generation instruments Gravity & Matisse, the Adaptive Optics Facility (AOF) on UT4 and the planet hunter ESPRESSO.ApplicationWe invite students from Chilean Universities, ideally in their last career years to apply. The apprenticeship should be supported by the University, and therefore, it shall be covered by the student accident insurance (Law 16.744). Applicationsmust be completed in Englishand should include a CV and a motivational letter indicating in the first line/title, the project(s) -name and number- you are interested in.Interviews will be conducted in English.Closing date for applications is 30 October 2026.Topics included in this program:MSE - BIM Asset Information Integration for OperationsMSE - Vacuum pump and helium compressor vibration characterization and real-time monitoring dashboard for diagnosticsMSE - Information management aimed at implementing maintenance best practices and supporting decision-makingPSO - Development and Evaluation of Atmospheric Nowcasting Models to Support Astronomical Science OperationsIT - Infrastructure Modernization and Cybersecurity Readiness ProgramList of Projects MSE Department:I. "BIM Asset Information Integration for Operations"The Paranal Observatory is developing a BIM and Digital Twin initiative and we need support to improve the integration of engineering models with operational asset information. You will work with Autodesk Revit and IBM Maximo to validate asset data, contribute to BIM models used for operations, and support the foundations of future Digital Twin applications.During this internship, the student will:Validate asset information between BIM models and IBM Maximo.Work with Autodesk Revit schedules and BIM parameters.Learn how BIM supports facility operations and maintenance.Contribute to Digital Twin readiness at one of the world's leading astronomical observatories.Student Profile:Architecture, Civil Engineering or Construction Engineering careerInterest in Data and Computer Science (BIM and asset information)Interest in Building Information Modeling (BIM), Digital Twins, and asset information management.Basic knowledge of Autodesk Revit is desirable.Familiarity with BIM workflows and data management is considered an advantage.Shift and Duration:The schedule will be 5x2 in Vitacura and 1 or 2 shift in Paranal (with accommodation provided on site). The internship will last for two months, January and February.II. " Vacuum pump and helium compressor vibration characterization and real-time monitoring dashboard for diagnostics"The Paranal Observatory relies on several vacuum pumps and helium compressors to support the operation of scientific instruments. These systems are known sources of mechanical vibrations that can propagate through the observatory infrastructure and potentially affect the performance of the 8m Unit Telescopes (UT) and the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). At present, when abnormal vibration signatures are detected, identifying their origin requires manual investigation across multiple engineering systems and telemetry sources, making the diagnostic process slow and inefficient. Currently, there is no centralized tool that provides real-time information on the operational status of pumps and compressors together with their characteristic vibration signatures. Therefore, valuable engineering time is invested in correlating vibration events with equipment activity, particularly during observations when rapid diagnosis is essential to minimize operational impact. This internship is proposed to address that operational need by measuring and characterizing the vibrations of each noisy element in the field nd developing a real-time monitoring platform capable of consolidating miscellaneous vibration information into a single dashboard.The internship is for two students with the following complementary objectives:Hardware: measure all vibrating elements (vacuum pumps and he compressors) with accelerometers to create a library of spectra characterizing all sourcesSoftware: Identify and connect to available databases and telemetry sources, develop scripts to acquire data in real time, and develop a dashboard displaying miscellaneous information in real timeStudent Profile:Student 1: Vibration Characterization of Vacuum Pumps and Helium CompressorsStudent profile:Mechanical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Physics, or a related field.Interest in vibration analysis, instrumentation, mechanical systems, and diagnostics.Basic knowledge of signal processing and data analysis.Familiarity with engineering measurements and laboratory work, ideally with accelerometers.Basic programming skills (Python) are desirable but not mandatory.Student 2: Real-Time Monitoring Dashboard DevelopmentStudent profile:Computer or Software Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Data Science, or a related field.Programming experience in Python.Familiarity with Visual Studio Code, Jupyter Notebook, and Streamlit.Interest in software development, data visualization, and monitoring systems.Familiarity with Linux, databases, APIs, and telemetry data processing.Basic understanding of data acquisition and dashboard design.Shift and Duration:For both students, the schedule will be eight days on duty and six days off duty (8x6) with accommodation provided on site. The internship will last for three months, January through March.III. "Information management aimed at implementing maintenance best practices and supporting decision-making."The Paranal Observatory operates every day of the year and requires a thorough maintenance program for the technical facilities in order to ensure a high degree of availability for science. The internship will focus on taking specific data in the field and analyzing data logged in several of our operational tools to derive parameters like wrench time, mean time between failures and mean time to repair, and other relevant aspects of reliability, availability and maintainability.Student Profile:Student of mechanical, maintenance, industrial engineering in the last year of career.Ability to do data analysis (using excel or programming) and knowledge of classical techniques like Pareto and Jack-Knife.Good command in English (written and spoken).General knowledge of maintenance processes (concepts: Availability, Reliability, Maintainability).Shift and Duration:The schedule will be eight days on duty and six days off duty (8x6) with accommodation provided on site. The internship will last from January - March 2027, minimum 4 shifts.Project PSO Department:I. "Development and Evaluation of Atmospheric Nowcasting Models to Support Astronomical Science Operations"Accurate knowledge of atmospheric conditions is essential for maximizing the scientific performance of astronomical observatories. While current