International Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad (IOAA): Parent & IP Student Guide

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) now brings together dozens of teams annually. Students under 20 tackle a five-hour theoretical exam and a five-hour practical component split equally between data analysis and observational tasks, all within a ten-day programme IOAA statutes. Medals are determined from a reference score so that bronze, silver and gold cut-offs are set near 1.0 M, 1.3 M and 1.6 M of the top-three mean.

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.

Singapore's short-list usually comes from the National Astronomy Olympiad (NAO) followed by a 6-month training camp at Science Centre Observatory and NUS Physics Department.

3 Exam structure