IAU Early-Career Conference "Synergies between Observational and Theoretical Astronomy: Results, Challenges, and Future Prospects"

17 – 19 November 2026, online

The conference "Synergies between Observational and Theoretical Astronomy: Results, Challenges and Future Prospects" will be held online on 17–19 November 2026 and represents the first scientific conference organized by the IAU Executive Committee Working Group Early-Career Members. While many of the Working Group’s activities focus on the challenges early career researcher face (e.g., professional development, funding opportunities and grant applications, successful proposal writing, career progression, mental health issues and work-life balance), this event aims to showcase the scientific contributions of the next generation of astronomers and provide a platform for discussing some of the key open questions in modern astronomy and astrophysics.

Participation is free of charge and attendance is open to anyone interested. The opportunity to present a contributed talk or poster is open to PhD students and postdoctoral researchers within six years of obtaining their PhD, with priority given to IAU Junior Members. The scientific programme will be shaped by contributed presentations spanning the full breadth of astronomy and astrophysics. To recognize outstanding contributions, financial awards will be presented for the best PhD student talk, the best postdoctoral talk, and the best poster presentation.

Scientific Rationale

Many of the most exciting advances in astronomy arise from the close interaction between observations and theory. New facilities and large-scale surveys are providing unprecedented views of the Universe, while increasingly sophisticated theoretical models, numerical simulations, and data-analysis techniques are enabling deeper interpretation of these observations. In the coming years, missions and facilities such as Gaia, Euclid, Roman, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, the Extremely Large Telescope, and the Square Kilometre Array will continue to transform the field, generating discoveries that require strong connections between observational and theoretical approaches.

These exciting times and developments address the most fundamental open questions in astronomy:

• How do stars and planetary systems form and evolve?
• How do binary interactions shape stellar evolution and explosive phenomena?
• How do galaxies assemble and evolve across cosmic time?
• What is the nature of compact objects and the physical processes governing the most energetic transients in the Universe?
• How can observations help constrain the nature of dark matter and the evolution of cosmic structure?

Addressing these and many other challenges requires the combination of observations, theory, simulations, and innovative methodologies.

This conference aims to highlight how early-career researchers are contributing to these efforts across all areas of astronomy and astrophysics. Participants are encouraged not only to present recent scientific results, but also to demonstrate how their work addresses broader challenges and outstanding questions within their respective fields, and how their work contributes to the future advancements in astronomy. By intentionally adopting a broad scientific scope, the meeting seeks to foster dialogue across traditional disciplinary boundaries, encourage the exchange of ideas and methodologies, and stimulate new collaborations. The online format lowers barriers to participation for researchers with limited access to travel funding and promotes a more inclusive and globally accessible scientific environment. Through presentations and discussions led by early-career scientists, the conference will provide visibility to emerging researchers, strengthen international connections, and showcase the diverse ways in which theoretical and observational astronomy work together to advance our understanding of the Universe.

Important Deadlines

• Registration and Abstract Submission Opens: 13 July 2026
• Abstract Submission Deadline: 13 September 2026
• Registration Deadline: 15 November 2026

The abstract submission deadline is 13 September 2026. After this date, the registration form will remain available without the abstract submission option until 15 November 2026 for participants wishing to attend the conference without presenting.

Early-career researchers (PhD students and postdoctoral researchers within six years of obtaining their PhD) are invited to submit an abstract for consideration for a contributed talk or poster.

Contact

 📧 [email protected]