The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) has contracted seven young people, less than 30 years old, with a variety of specalized abilities, within the programme of help to foment juvenile employment, and the establishment of the Young People’s guarantee for R+D+I approved in a Bill of January 12th 2015 from the Secretary of State for Research, Development and Innovation of the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) dating originally from the year 2014.  

The principal aim of this Bill is to allow young people who are unemployed and not undergoing either education or training to receive an offer of employment, continuing education, training or a period of apprenticeship after finishing their formal education or when they become unemployed. These contracts last for two years.

The personnel contracted by the IAC will carry out a variety of tasks depending on their speciality: one in administration, two in maintenance at the Teide Observatory, one in the Optics workshop, two in Telescope operations, and one in communication and outreach. These young people will have the opportunity of working with experience teams in a forefront activity, such as those at the IAC, and in very favourable conditions, such as the IAC Headquarters in La Laguna, and the Teide Observatory, both on the island of Tenerife. 

These are apprenticeship contracts, co-financed within the Framework of the National sub-programme of incorporation within the National Programme of the Promotion of Talent and Employability within the National Plan of Scientific and  Technical Research and Innovation 2013-2016 of the Secretary of State for R+D+I, with finance from the European Social Fund (FSE) and the Initiative for Youth Employment (IEJ). In the development of this system, the new financial framework 2014-2020 of the Structural and Investment Funds of the European Union have been taken into account.