Office of Astronomy for Development

The Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD) is a joint project of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and the South African National Research Foundation (NRF) with the support of the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI).

The mission of the OAD is to help further the use of astronomy, including its practitioners, skills and infrastructures, as a tool for development in every country by mobilizing the human and financial resources necessary in order to realize the field’s scientific, technological and cultural benefits to society. This is primarily implemented through funding and coordinating projects that use Astronomy as a tool to address issues related to sustainable development. 

The OAD is based in Cape Town at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO). It works closely with the other IAU offices, namely, the IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach (OAO) in Tokyo, the IAU Office for Young Astronomers (OYA) and the Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) as well as the IAU Secretariat in Paris.

Read more about OAD in its dedicated web site.

Office of Astronomy for Education

The IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) is a joint project of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, hosted at Haus der Astronomie (“House of Astronomy”) in Heidelberg, Germany.

The mission of the OAE is to support professional astronomers and astronomy educators worldwide as they use astronomy for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics ) teaching and education from elementary to high school level. This is supported by a network of IAU National Astronomy Education Coordinator Teams (NAEC Teams), which will represent the interface between the IAU OAE and the education community in each team’s country. 

The IAU OAE works toward the goal of creating a community of astronomers, astronomy education researchers, and education practitioners that is committed to the professionalisation of astronomy education and to sharing resources and best-practice methods.

Read more about the IAU Office for Astronomy for Education (OAE) in its dedicated web site.

Office for Astronomy Outreach

The IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach (OAO) is a joint project of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), under the auspices of the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) of Japan. The office is based in Tokyo, at the NAOJ Mitaka Campus.

The mission of the OAO is to engage the public in astronomy through access to astronomical information and communication of the science of astronomy. This is implemented through a network of IAU National Outreach Coordinators (NOCs) and the IAU’s engagement initiatives with the public, encouraging active communication of science through IAU member public engagement, professional-amateur, and citizen science activities.

The work of the OAO is about building bridges between the IAU and the global astronomy community of amateur astronomers, outreach practitioners, educators, communicators, and the general public, and through international collaboration, to make the science of astronomy accessible to all.

Read more about the Office for Astronomy Outreach (OAO) here.

Office for Young Astronomers

The IAU Office for Young Astronomers (OYA) is a joint project of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters (NASL).  OYA is a virtual office, with domicile in NASL, in Oslo, Norway.

The primary mission of OYA is to run the IAU programme on International Schools for Young Astronomers (ISYA) established since 1967. ISYA is IAU’s educational and training programme at university level, intended to broaden the participants’ perspective on astronomy by lectures from an international faculty on selected topics of astronomy, seminars, practical exercises and observations, and exchange of experiences. The schools take place in regions where students have less opportunity to be directly exposed to the full extent of up-to-date astrophysics.

Read more about the IAU Office for Young Astronomers (OYA) here.