Overview
The International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) is an annual astronomy competition for secondary school students, organised in a different host country each year and normally lasting 10 days including arrival and departure. The details below follow the 2019 statutes published by that year's host. A more recent official text could not be found, so check it before relying on the numbers.
Who can take part
Contestants must be less than 20 years old on 1 July of the competition year.
Team members are high school students, or students who finish high school in the year of the competition.
Each country can send one regular team of no more than five students, chosen through a fair and representative process, plus two team leaders. The host may also invite guest teams.
Team leaders should be scientists or teachers who can solve, discuss and translate the problems and who can communicate in English.
Exam pattern
| Part | Working time |
|---|---|
| Theoretical examination | 5 hours in total |
| Practical examination | 5 hours in total across all components |
The theoretical part is expected to have about 5 short, 5 intermediate and 2 or 3 long questions. The organiser sets the practical part as one or a combination of an observation task, a paper-based practical problem, a computer-based problem and a planetarium simulation. The two parts are spread over at least four calendar days with at least one free day between them. Contestants may use non-programmable calculators.
Medals
Medals depend on a reference score M, the lower of 50 percent of the absolute score and the median total score of all contestants. A score above 1.6 M earns gold, 1.3 M to 1.6 M silver and M to 1.3 M bronze. Contestants without a medal who score above the reference score in either part receive an honourable mention.
How to take part
Students enter through their country's national astronomy olympiad or selection programme, which chooses the national team. Contact your national olympiad organiser for the selection stages.
Preparation tips
Study mathematics and physics at upper-secondary level together with astronomy topics such as celestial mechanics, stellar physics and cosmology.
Practise reading star charts and working with real observational data.
Solve past IOAA problems published by earlier hosts.
Note
The statutes cited here are the 2019 edition published by that year's host. Check the current IOAA statutes and the host country's page for the latest rules and dates.