International Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad (IOAA): Parent & IP Student Guide
Download printable cheat-sheet (CC-BY 4.0)05 Aug 2025, 00:00 Z
Q: What does International Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad (IOAA): Parent & IP Student Guide cover?
A: Origins, exam format, medal rubric and Singapore's training pipeline - the IOAA decoded for IP families aiming to stretch their Math & Physics skills.
TL;DR
Launched in 2007, the International Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad (IOAA) convenes national teams annually. Statutes outline a five-hour theoretical exam and a five-hour practical component (data analysis + observational) within a ten-day programme IOAA statutes. Medals are set from a reference score based on the top performers rather than fixed quotas.
Training up for IOAA while keeping schoolwork steady? Reuse the revision ladders in our IP Physics tuition hub to keep mechanics and data-handling fundamentals sharp between astronomy problem sets.
Status: IOAA statutes page (ioaa2025.in/about-ioaa/ioaa-statutes/) checked 2025-11-30 - exam structure remains 5 h theory + 5 h practical (data + observational) with medals set from top-score reference; 2025 host listed as India.
Registration quick answer (Singapore): Students don’t enter the international astronomy/astrophysics olympiad directly. Countries send national teams. See the official IOAA site for structure and hosts: https://ioaastrophysics.org/
1 What exactly is the IOAA?
The IOAA is an annual olympiad that tests high-schoolers on astrophysics, celestial mechanics, observational skills and data analysis. It was founded at a UNESCO-brokered meeting in April 2006 and debuted in December 2007 at Chiang Mai, Thailand, with 21 nations.
In recent cycles the host baton has passed through Romania (2014), Georgia (2022), Brazil (2024) and upcoming India (2025); the 2020 and 2021 editions ran online because of Covid-19.
2 Who can take part?
- Age rule - contestants must be under 20 on 1 July of the Olympiad year.
- Academic status - they cannot have entered tertiary education by that date.
- Team size - each country may send one team of up to five students plus up to two leaders; guest teams are optional IOAA statutes.
- Selection is national - students cannot register directly; follow your country’s official olympiad organisers (e.g., ministry, science centre, national astronomy olympiad) for team selection notices.
