A mission is travel for work for which ESA has agreed to cover the costs. It is generally provided for ESA Staff Members and Integrated Teams upon request and acceptance by one's Line Manager and Head of Department.
Missions to attend the YPE might be possible for National Trainees (NTs), Young Graduate Trainees (YGTs), Research Fellows (RFs) and Junior Professionals (JPs) upon request and acceptance by your line manager. A formal communication has been sent by HR to all the directorates informing them about the YPE and kindly requesting them to allow their young professionals to attend the event with a mission covered by their department.
Below is a guide on how to request a mission. Before stepping into the mission approval system, make sure you have discussed it with your line manager and confirmed how many days/nights can be covered by your department for the mission. Usually, it is possible to get a mission to cover 1 return travel ticket and 1 hotel night to attend the YPE. If you wish to stay longer, you will likely need to cover the extra hotel night costs yourself.
Help for accommodation
Since not everyone is able to get a mission and therefore might need hosting, we are facilitating a couch surfing scheme where we match visiting young professionals with people from ESTEC who have space to host.
If you are at ESTEC and interested in hosting someone, we would love to hear from you and you can sign up here.
If you are visiting and looking for a place to stay during the YPE, please fill out this form.
We will match you based on your preferences and to make sure everyone feels comfortable. If you have any questions on this offer, feel free to contact Lea Kablitz.
How should I come?
The easiest way to reach ESTEC is by train to Leiden Centraal station.
From the UK: You can take the Eurostar from London St Pancras to Rotterdam Centraal and then a local train to Leiden Centraal station.
From France: You can take the Eurostar from Paris Gare du Nord to Rotterdam Centraal or Schiphol Airport and then a local train to Leiden Centraal station.
From Belgium: You can take the Eurostar from Bruxelles-Midi - Brussel-Zuid or Antwerpen Centraal to Rotterdam Centraal or Schiphol Airport and then a local train to Leiden Centraal station.
From Germany: You can take the ICE International train from both Frankfurt and Cologne Central stations to either Amsterdam Centraal or Utrecht Centraal and then a local train to Leiden Centraal station.
For all other sites: There are possibilities with trains but it is likely more reasonable to arrive by plane via Schiphol Airport. From Schiphol Airport, it is a 15 minutes train ride to Leiden Centraal Station. There is a shuttle bus service from Schiphol Airport to ESTEC for 20€ which can be reserved here: ESTEC Schiphol Shuttle Bus Service (taxibrouwer.nl)
You can pay for domestic train travel in the Netherlands by touching your contactless bank card at the station barriers.
From Leiden, the journey to ESTEC is easy. You can also choose to go to Noordwijk.
Leiden Centraal <-> ESTEC approx 25 min by bus 430
Noordwijk <-> ESTEC approx 30 min by bus 90 or 385
Leiden Centraal <-> Katwijk approx 25 min by bus 431
Leiden Centraal <-> Noordwijk approx 30 min by bus 20
How can I pay for public transport (bus/train) in the Netherlands?
For the train ticket, you can tap your bank card on the reader when you enter and exit the train station, this will calculate the price of your ticket with respect to your journey. A screenshot of your bank account can be sent when you request reimbursement. If this does not work for you, you can buy all train tickets on the NS app with a credit card and you should be able to request a receipt through the app. The ticket is associated with the journey type not the time of the train i.e. if you buy a ticket for the 11:30 train to Leiden Centraal but miss it and need to take the 11:45, you do not need to buy another ticket as it is the same route. If you arrive on a high speed train like ICE or Eurostar and change to a Dutch train then you need to touch your bank card on one of the overstappen (transfer) readers on the train platform otherwise you will not be able to exit at your arrival in Leiden. If you forget to do so or do not have time, buy a ticket on the NS app, you can scan it at your exit without scanning it at your entry.
For the bus ticket, you can once again just tap your bank card on the reader when you enter and exit the bus, this will calculate the price of your ticket with respect to your journey. You can then screenshot your bank account when you request reimbursement. If this does not work for you, you can:
- Buy an e-ticket using the 9292 app. You get a ticket on your phone and an email receipt.
- Buy a ticket by speaking to the driver. The paper ticket can then be used as a receipt.
Both the 9292 and NS app can be set to English.
Where should I stay?
Most Young Professionals (YPs) live in Leiden and social activities will take place there (including the gala). Best accommodation would be near the Leiden Centraal Station where you can find the bus station to go to ESTEC. Examples of hotels near Leiden Centraal are the Ibis Hotel, the Fletcher or the Golden Tulip, all with quite similar prices.
Mission Approval System
MAS accessible from ESA Tools : Mission Approval System - Main Page (esa.int)
or via OneESA
Create a new request and provide the following inputs:
Budget Line: ask your manager, must be your department's budget line
Mission category: depends on your status + Conferences, Workshops and Others
Hotel and Ticket required: as per your preference. Choosing "to be booked with Travel Agency" means they will book and pay for flight/train ticket and book the hotel room. You will either have to pay the costs upon check-in at the hotel and ask for refund afterwards or the travel agency will pay it directly ahead of your arrival. You can choose to book everything on your own, keep the invoice for the refund process (explained at the end of the article).
Detail: Young Professional Event 2024 at ESTEC organised by Young ESA - an event for Young Professionals across all ESA sites.
Start of Work: 31-MAY-2024 at 09:00
End of Work: 31-MAY-2024 at 18:00
Journey / Planned Journey
Journey : the nominal journey to reach ESTEC and come back afterwards (the one approved by your manager)
Travel time is also considered as work time during a mission, so, upon approval by your manager, you could travel during work hours.
Planned Journey : if you plan to come before or leave after (take some leave or stay longer) then put the "real" journey in that specific section. IF it is different than the planned one then you can request different dates/times for flights in the "real" journey tab. The travel agent will be in touch with you by email to confirm flights/train times and the hotel booking.
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After you hit 'Request', the system will ask you who you want to send the request to.
Choose / add:
- Yourself
- Your line manager
- Your head of department (as agreed with your manager)
- HR: Andrew Kane andrew.kane@esa.int
- If you know it, the secretary of your department
You then have to click on "Submit for Approval" and put in:
- Your line manager
- Your head of department (as agreed with your manager)
- HR: Andrew Kane andrew.kane@esa.int
Please note that you have the possibility to remote work from ESTEC on Thursday instead of having to take a leave. On the HR Space, you can select the day of Thursday May 30th and then you can select No-Cost Local Mission and input ESTEC as workplace. This will send a request to your line manager (same as when you request a leave) and will count as a work day without having to clock in and out. Make sure to discuss this option with your line manager beforehand.
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Reimbursement
In case the tickets are not booked by the travel agency, keep your hotel invoice, flight/train tickets and local transport tickets as you will have to submit them for reimbursement (can be done 24 hours after the mission end date). Information on how to claim a mission will follow soon.
You do not need to provide any food this is covered in the daily allowance for the mission.
FYI: A mission gets reimbursement approval within approximately a month after requesting it (so YPE being on May 31st, the refund will be processed by June 30th). The refund is transferred to your account a couple of days after confirmation (unrelated to your salary date). This can take longer or be processed earlier depending on the Travel Agency workload and how early after the YPE you request the reimbursement.
Any questions?
If you have questions, concerns, doubts at any point in this process, do not hesitate to reach out to Marion or Salvi via email or Teams message directly. We will make sure to answer you promptly and guide you the best way we can,
Two training sessions on this process will be scheduled to explain everything on a call, meetings invitations will follow soon to everyone.
