Recruitment Process

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 schedule of the recruitment process will follow a slightly different format and timeline in Europe and Chile due to the differences of the selection process.

Europe Fellowship Selection timeline

  • Second half of November: Candidates who pass the first stage of the selection will be contacted, and their referees will be asked to submit reference letters. Unsuccessful applicants will also be notified.
  • Before the end-of-the-year break: shortlisted candidates will be contacted for the interview. Unsuccessful applicants are also notified.
  • Second half of January: Candidates are invited at the interview week to give an online science talk, followed by a video interview at a later stage during the week.
  • End of January: offers are sent by the Chair of the Fellowship Selection Committee to the top-ranked candidates.
  • 15 February: deadline for offer acceptance. After acceptance of all offers, candidates on the waiting list and unsuccessful applicants are also notified.

Chile Fellowship Selection timeline

  • October – November: review of the applications.
  • End of November: shortlisted candidates are invited to a video interview in January.
  • Second week of January: Candidates are video interviewed.
  • End of January: offers are sent by the Chair of the Fellowship Selection Committee to the top-ranked candidates
  • 15 February: deadline for offer acceptance. After acceptance of all offers, candidates on the waiting list and unsuccessful applicants are also notified.

Selection committee

The recruitment process for ESO Fellowships differs slightly between the Europe and Chile programmes. Both are overseen by a dedicated Fellowship Selection Committee (FSC), appointed each year by the Chair of the Faculty in consultation with the Director for Science.

There is one FSC for each site—Garching (Europe) and Santiago (Chile). Each committee is chaired by an ESO Faculty astronomer and includes other Faculty members, plus one or more senior ESO Fellows. Members typically serve for a maximum of three years.

While the basic structure is similar, the two programmes follow different review approaches:

  • Europe Fellowship Programme – The FSC consults all ESO astronomers when evaluating the Research Plan. This broad participation ensures access to expertise across a wide range of research areas and helps distribute the workload created by the high number of applications.

  • Chile Fellowship Programme – The FSC reviews and evaluates all application materials independently, without seeking additional input. The smaller applicant pool allows the committee to manage the process directly.

The stages of the selection process

The selection process for the ESO Fellowship Programme is structured differently depending on whether you are applying to the Europe or Chile Fellowship track.


Europe Fellowship Selection: A Three-Step Process

  • First Stage: Distributed Peer Review (DPR). At this stage, only the Research Plan is distributed among ESO astronomers for scientific evaluation through a Distributed Peer Review (DPR) process. Each Research Plan is reviewed by at least eight ESO astronomers, including both experts and non-experts.
 As such, the Research Plan should be clearly written and accessible to non-specialists, while also being rigorous and compelling to experts in the field.
The results of the DPR are used by the Fellowship Selection Committee (FSC) to perform an initial triage of the applications. 
Candidates who pass this stage will be notified, and reference letters will be requested. Unsuccessful candidates will also be informed at this point.
  • Second Stage: Full Application Review
. The FSC reviews the complete set of materials — including the Research Plan, CV, motivation letter, and reference letters — for candidates who passed the initial triage. 
Based on this review, the FSC will compile a shortlist of candidates to be invited for an interview. Invitations are sent before the end-of-year break.
  • Third Stage: Interview Week. 
During the interview week in January, shortlisted candidates are invited to deliver a 20-minute online science talk, followed by 10–15 minutes of Q&A.
 All ESO staff astronomers, Fellows, and students are welcome to attend these talks.
 Later in the week, candidates will participate in a one-hour video interview with the FSC. This interview focuses on the candidate’s broad scientific vision, personal motivations, career goals, and interest in ESO.
 Details of the interview schedule will be shared at least two weeks in advance with all shortlisted candidates.

 

Chile Fellowship Selection: A Two-Step Process

  • First Stage: Full Application Review
. The FSC reviews all submitted materials — Research Plan, CV, motivation letter, and reference letters — to select a shortlist of candidates for interviews. Invitations are sent before the end-of-year break.
  • Second Stage: Interview Week. 
Shortlisted candidates are invited to a one-hour video interview with the FSC during the interview week in January.
The interview focuses on the candidate’s scientific vision, motivation, career aspirations, and interest in ESO.
 The interview schedule will be communicated at least two weeks in advance.


Selection criteria for the fellows

Scientific excellence—both of the applicant and of their proposed research programme—is the primary basis for shortlisting candidates at both sites. However, the two programmes differ in emphasis and in how other factors are weighed.

Europe Fellowship Programme (Garching)

In Europe, the selection process places particular emphasis on the Research Plan in the first stage. The initial triage evaluates whether the proposal is bold, original, scientifically sound, and capable of making a meaningful impact.

Candidates who pass this stage proceed to a full application review, assessing whether they have the skills, experience, and scientific maturity to successfully carry out their research.

Your Research Plan will be evaluated on:

  • Scientific excellence

  • Novelty and creativity

  • Feasibility and robustness

For Garching, the role of duties is considered in context—the committee seeks applicants whose research interests and expertise align with ESO’s work, but selection is not based strictly on operational skills. Fellows are expected to contribute to functional duties (25% of their time), but the choice of duty work is made after selection and must be approved by the Head of the Office for Science. Only in exceptional cases, flagged by the Director for Science, will specific operational profiles or skills influence the selection decision.

Chile Fellowship Programme (Santiago)

In Chile, while scientific excellence is still essential, greater weight is given to technical, observational, and software skills, along with general astronomical knowledge, independence, and a sense of responsibility. This is because Chile Fellows spend roughly 50% of their time on operational duties, including night shifts at the observatory.

The committee evaluates the Research Plan using the same criteria as in Europe, but also considers the applicant’s readiness and motivation to engage in ESO’s operational work, as well as their potential to contribute broadly to ESO’s mission.

Final Ranking Considerations (Both Sites)
In cases where candidates are equally ranked, recruitment preference will be given to nationals of ESO Member States, Australia, and Chile. Committees also aim to maintain equality, diversity and inclusion in gender, nationality, and research topics.

Biases and Conflicts of Interest

Awareness of potential biases is addressed before and during the selection process, including a dedicated session at the kick-off meeting, following guidelines provided with the support of Human Resources.

Conflicts of interest must be declared upfront by any committee member who has a personal, professional, or other significant connection with an applicant. For the Europe Fellowship Programme, reviewers in the Distributed Peer Review (DPR) stage also declare conflicts before receiving applications; they do not receive the Research Plans of candidates with whom they have a conflict.

In all cases, when a conflicted applicant’s file is discussed, the committee member must leave the room and take no part in the evaluation of that application.

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 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.