Drop your Thesis! 2016

Students from an ESA Member or Cooperating State are welcome to submit their experiment proposal.

One team of up to four bachelor, master or PhD students will be selected to conduct their microgravity experiment. DYT offers students the unique opportunity to conduct a series of microgravity experiments in the 146 m high ZARMDrop Tower Facility in Bremen, Germany, one of the most advanced research centres of its kind in Europe.

The experiment payload is integrated into a capsule which is allowed to fall freely attaining microgravity levels as low as 10^-6 g for up to 9.3 seconds. The level of microgravity is better than that achieved in parabolic flights or even on orbital platforms (e. g. the International Space Station). In addition, the drop tower is extremely versatile so that an experiment set-up may be adjusted between consecutive launches. 

The proposals received will be evaluated by an expert review board which will select the winning team. The team selected to participate in DYT 2016 will be supported by ESA's Education Office and ZARM engineers and will get the opportunity to be mentored by a member of the European Low Gravity Research Association (ELGRA). The ESA Education Office will provide financial support to cover part of the campaign costs (travel and accommodation, and hardware for the experiment development).

An overview of the DYT programme can be found on the ESA Education website.
Instructions on how to apply are available here.

The submission deadline for DYT 2016 is January 18^th, 2016.

For further information please send an e-mail to: dropyourthesis @ esa.int