One recruitment cycle takes place per site and per calendar year. ESO recruits 5 to 6 Fellows per year in Garching, and 4 to 7 Fellows per year in Santiago. An announcement is published in various media including the Messenger in June/July each year.

Timeline

The deadline for applications is currently October 15. Here is the link to the application guidelines. The review of the applications stars in the week after the application deadline. By mid November the short-listed candidates are invited to the interviews. Please notice that the interview process is slightly different depending on whether you are applying to the Fellowship in Garching or Chile. Please see the section below for details. The interviews will take place around mid of December.

Offers are expected to be made by the end of December/beginning of January with the request for a prompt reply, no later than February 15.

The future Fellows are expected to take up duty during the year following the application deadline, usually in the period from September to December of that year.

Selection committee

The recruitment process for ESO Fellows is done via a dedicated selection committee appointed annually by the respective Chair of the Faculty in consultation with the Director for Science. There is one selection committee per site/Office (one for Garching, one for Santiago). The committees are chaired by Faculty Astronomers and composed of ESO Faculty astronomers and one or more senior ESO Fellows. Committee members serve for no more than 3 years. In Garching the application forms are reviewed by astronomers at ESO and senior ESO Fellows.  

Interview

The interviews process is organized in a different way, depending on whether you are applying for the Fellowship in Garching (Germany) or Santiago (Chile).

• Interview process: ESO Fellowship in Germany

ESO Fellows Science Workshop + Video Interviews: second half of December

During the workshop, all short listed candidates are invited to give an online 20min science talk by video, followed by 10min of questions. All ESO Staff astronomers, Fellows and students are invited to attend the talks. The candidates will also be invited to participate to a 1hr video interview with the Fellowship Selection Committee (FSC). The interview will focus on broad science vision of the candidate, personal motivations, career goals and interest toward ESO.

The details of the schedule will be sent at least 2 weeks before the event to the short listed candidates.

• Interview process: ESO Fellowship in Chile

Interviews via video conference will be most likely scheduled between 5th and 17th December. Applicants will have the chance to show their scientific knowledge, technical skills, career goals, and their personal motivations, and potential contribution and interest toward ESO.

The details of the schedule will be sent about 2 weeks before the event to the short listed candidates.

Selection criteria for the fellows

Scientific excellence of the applicant and of their proposed research programmes are the prime selection criteria used to constitute a 'long list'. In Chile, value is also attached to technical, observational or software skills, general astronomical knowledge,  independence and sense of responsibility. Those on the long list are interviewed.

The committee then selects candidates highly motivated by ESO's mission, i.e. applicants that will benefit from being at ESO and whose presence ESO will profit from. These candidates constitute the 'short list'.

Ranking of the short list takes into account gender balance, variety of science topics, variety of nationalities (with a preference for Member State nationals).

In Chile, a specific emphasis is put on making sure that a potential fellow is ready to engage in duty work on the mountain as prescribed by the contract. In Germany, a check is made that potential fellows are enthusiastic about contributing to functional work in general. Beyond this, the selection for Garching Fellows itself does not depend on specific profiles or skills, unless an exceptional situation has been flagged by the Director for Science: the choice of the duty work is mostly in the hands of the Fellows and needs to be approved by the Head of the Office for Science in Garching.

For both sites, recruitment preference will be given to nationals of ESO-member countries as well as Australia and Chile.

Biases and Conflicts of Interest

Awareness of biases is developed prior and at the kick-off meeting following the guidelines issued by and with the help of Human Resources. Conflict of interests are declared up front by any members of the committee who has any connection with an applicant and the committee member must leave the room when that applicant’s file is discussed.

Confidentiality

All discussions, exchanges, interviews are strictly confidential. Any information associated with the process and applicants is kept strictly within the committee. Please note that by submitting your application, you agree that your material will be reviewed by astronomers at ESO and senior ESO Fellows.  

Approval and offers

The Director for Science reviews and approves the ranked list of candidates. The chair of the selection committee sends out the contract offers and prepares matching candidates on the short list in case of rejections, aiming to maintain gender balance, the variety of science topics and nationalities across the programme.