UM students take part in Summer School Alpbach 2026

Sixty European engineering and science students, including two from the University of Malta, were selected to participate in a ten-day learning opportunity held in the village of Alpbach, in the Austrian Alps. The Summer School Alpbach 2026 focused on the theme “High-energy processes in planetary systems”.

Among the participants were University of Malta students Karl and Liliana, who joined students from across Europe for an intensive programme combining lectures, teamwork and hands-on mission design. Speaking to Newspoint about their experience, the two students described the Summer School as an unforgettable opportunity to broaden their knowledge of space science and engineering while working alongside an international community of fellow students and experts.

Participants attended stimulating lectures on different aspects of space science and engineering, while working in four groups to develop and design a space mission under the guidance of renowned scientific and engineering experts. Karl and Liliana were immersed in this collaborative environment, contributing to the development of their team's mission concept while learning to approach complex scientific and engineering challenges from different perspectives.

The programme exposed participants to the realities of space mission development, including long working days in the lead-up to the submission of their proposals and the need to quickly apply newly acquired knowledge and techniques. It also challenged them to establish and maintain international, multidisciplinary teams made up of scientists and engineers.

Throughout the experience, Karl, Liliana and their fellow participants had to balance their mission’s scientific objectives and requirements with the practical constraints of mission and spacecraft design, available technology and cost.

On the final day of the Summer School, each team presented its proposed mission to a jury of experts and fellow participants. In some cases, mission concepts developed during the Summer School have gone on to inspire or contribute to real space missions undertaken by the European Space Agency.

For Karl and Liliana, the experience offered much more than an opportunity to learn about space science. It provided them with first-hand experience of what it means to work as part of an international scientific and engineering team, while challenging them to turn ambitious scientific ideas into realistic mission concepts.