Overview
ESO is accepting applications for its 2026/2027 Chile Fellowship in Santiago, a four-year early-career astronomy research and observatory-operations fellowship.
Complete fellowship details
The Chile fellowship lasts four years. During the first three years, fellows carry observatory duties with Paranal or ALMA at about 80 nights per year, corresponding to 50% of working time, alongside their research. The fourth year has no required functional duties and may be spent at an eligible astronomy or astrophysics institution or at ESO. ESO provides science funding and offers competitive salary and allowances, social benefits and relocation support for families.
Eligibility requirements
Applicants must have obtained a PhD in astronomy, physics or a related discipline before 1 November 2027. Early-career scientists in observational, theoretical and computational astrophysics are welcome. ESO states that no nationality is excluded in principle, while recruitment preference applies to nationals of its Member States, host states and strategic partners.
Tips for this fellowship
Practical Job and Scholarship guidance. These tips do not replace official rules or create new eligibility requirements.
- Check eligibility, funding coverage, study/project level and every required document before investing time in the application.
- Prepare transcripts, references, language tests, proposal/motivation statement and proof documents early.
- Separate the scholarship deadline from any university/program admission deadline; they may be different.
- Treat “fully funded” as a source fact only when the official provider explicitly confirms the covered costs.
Verification notes
Verified on ESO advert 2026_0052 with an active Apply action and a 15 October 2026 deadline. ESO describes the closing time as midnight Chilean time; the record therefore uses date-only deadline_date rather than inferring an exact RFC3339 instant.
Job and Scholarship is the discovery and verification layer. Confirm eligibility, dates, salary/funding and application instructions on the original source before submitting anything.
ESO Recruitment Portal ↗Browse current Job and Scholarship listings from ESO Recruitment Portal →
