IOAA 2024: Registration Process, Eligibility Criteria, Selection Process, Result

IOAA stands for International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics. It is an annual event for students who perform very well academically around the world.

Established in Thailand in the year 2006, it was an initiative by five countries including Thailand, Indonesia, Iran, China and Poland. It is one of the most prestigious Astrophysics Olympiads in the world.

Every country has its different own selection process for IOAA. In India, only those candidates can apply who have passed the NSEA, INAO, OSC, PDT/ PDC exam.

Participating Countries

• Armenia
• Azerbaijan
• Bangladesh
• Brazil
• Bulgaria
• Canada
• China
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Estonia
• Georgia
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Bolivia
• Chile
• Colombia
• Paraguay
• Ecuador
• India
• Indonesia
• Iran
• Kazakhstan
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Malaysia
• Nepal
• Norway
• Pakistan
• Philippines
• Poland
• Portugal
• Rep of Belarus
• Republic of Korea
• Romania
• Russia
• Serbia
• Singapore
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Sweden
• Thailand
• Ukraine
• United Arab Emirates
• United Kingdom
• United States of America
• Vietnam

IOAA 2024 Important Dates 

The dates of the IOAA 2024 examination depend upon the exam’s stage.

1st Stage – National Standard Examination in Astronomy (NSEA)

Main Events	Tentative Dates
Starting of registration	To be notified later
Last date of registration	To be notified later
Last date of payment	To be notified later
Examination Date	To be notified later
Date of result	To be notified later
Displaying of the final list of candidates selected	To be notified later

2nd Stage – Indian National Astronomy Olympiad (INAO)

Main Events	Tentative Dates
Last date of registration	To be notified later
Starting of commencement of INAO	To be notified later
Releasing of Answer Keys	To be notified later
Last date to receive feedback on answers	To be notified later
Declaration of result	To be notified later
Last date of re-evaluation	To be notified later
Final Scores/ OCSC list publication	To be notified later

3rd Stage – Orientation cum Selection Camp (OCSC) in astronomy

Main Events	Tentative Dates
Mathematics Exam	To be notified later
Astronomy Exam	To be notified later
Junior Science Exam	To be notified later
Physics Exam	To be notified later
Chemistry	To be notified later
Biology	To be notified later

4th Stage – Pre-departure Training Camp (PDT) for IOAA

Main Events	Tentative Dates
Starting of pre-departure training camp (PDT) for IOAA	To be notified later
Complete of the pre-departure training camp (PDT) for IOAA	To be notified later
Departure of candidates	To be notified later

5th Stage – International Olympiad in Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA 2024) 

Main Events	Tentative Dates
Opening Ceremony	To be notified later
P1: Data Analysis Examination	To be notified later
P2: Solar Examination	To be notified later
P3: Team Competition	To be notified later
P4: Theorical Examination	To be notified later
P5: Planetarium Examination	To be notified later
Activities and Culture	To be notified later
Closing Ceremony	To be notified later

IOAA 2024 Eligibility Criteria

The eligibility criteria for IOAA 2024 are explained below.

• The age of a candidate should be less than 20 as of 30th June 2024.
• Participating students should not be attending higher education.

Note: The rest of the eligibility criteria depend upon the country to which you belong. In India, You can write IOAA only if you clear the first national round (NSEA) conducted by Indian Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT)

IOAA 2024 Registration Process

Only pre-registered member can be able to submit the registration form. International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics committee will send a Google form to the registered contact from the pre-registration form.

• Apart from the Google form, authorities will also send an excel spreadsheet to the registered contact from the pre-registration form to be filled with specific information of all participants.
• The team looking to participate needs to fill and submit an excel spreadsheet before the last date.
• The excel file that you will send must include photos of all the members of the team as well as copies of the main page of passport or other government ID that shows the date of birth of each member.
• Please note that there would be an additional column in order to include a photo of any proof showing that they did not complete their high school education before the start of the current year.
• You should also include audio files in the spreadsheet with the correct pronunciation of each member’s name.
• The person reading the names in the audio file should read out the name slowly and clearly and use the following format.
  • Team  – Country
  • Main Team – Leader 1 Name, Leader 2 Name
  • Leaders should be followed by observers
  • Students (main team first followed by a guest team if any)
  • Exam Supervisor

Check Aakash ANTHE details

Selection Process of IOAA 2024 from India

As mentioned above, the Selection process or opportunity to take part in the IOAA 2024 depends upon the country to which you belong. We are sharing the selection stages for Indian students.

• 1st Stage – National Standard Examination in Astronomy (NSEA)
• 2nd Stage – Indian National Astronomy Olympiad (INAO)
• 3rd Stage – Orientation cum Selection Camp (OCSC) in Astronomy
• 4th Stage – Pre-departure Training Camp for IOAA
• 5th Stage – International Olympiad in Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA)

IOAA 2024 Competition Pattern 

Broadly, the competition is divided into the following two parts – Theoretical and practical Competitions

Theoretical Competition	Practical Competition
The theoretical competition consists of short and long questions. 15 short questions and 2 or 3 questions will be asked	The organized will provide a list of activities. The activities will include the following things.   Computer based problems Paper based practical problems Observation Planetarium simulation or combination of the four which is required to be solved in a duration of 5 hours.

• Duration of the completion – 10 days including arrival and departure days
• Time Allotted – 5 hours for practical and 5 hours for theoretical
• Marking Pattern – 50% for theoretical paper and 50% (25% data analysis and 25% observation) of the total marks.

IOAA Syllabus 2024

The syllabus of IOAA competition is quite vast. However, you may check the important topics as given below.

Theoretical Section

• Basic Astrophysics – Celestial Mechanics, Electromagnetic Theory & Quantum Physics, Thermodynamics, Spectroscopy and Atomic Physics, Nuclear Physics
• Coordinates and Times – Celestial Sphere, Concept of Time
• Solar System – The Sun, The Solar System, Space Exploration, Phenomena
• Stars – Stellar Properties, Stellar Interior and Atmospheres, Stellar Evolution
• Steller Systems – Binary Star Systems, Exoplanets, Star Clusters, Milky Way Galaxy, Interstellar Medium, Galaxies, Accretion Processes
• Cosmology – Elementary Cosmology
• Instrumentation and Space Technologies – Multi-wavelength Astronomy, Instrumentation

Practical Section 

• Observation section – naked-eye observations, usage of sky maps and catalogues, application of coordinate systems in the sky, magnitude estimation, estimation of angular separation, usage of basic astronomical instruments-telescopes and various detectors for observations.
• Data analysis sections – Proper identification of error sources, Proper use of graph papers with different scales, Basic statistical analysis of the observational data, Knowledge of the most common experimental techniques for measuring physical quantities.

Check List of scholarships and olympiads

Awards and Prizes

• After Olympiad, the result of IOAA will release online through the official website.
• The link to check the result will be updated on the homepage of the website.
• The IOAA 2024 result will consist of information such as candidate’s performance, Rank, etc.

FAQs