Virtual Classroom Under the sky – PBL with Astronomy

Target location: South America Target audience: Preschool, primary and secundary teachers This meeting of Virtual classroom under the stars is aimed at preschool, primary and secondary teachers, astronomy fans from South America. The meeting aims to share pedagogical and methodological tools for teaching astronomy, through projects to explore and study the astronomical world and prepare […]

Under the Sky of Iran Campaign

Target location: Iran and Afghanistan Target audience: The project can include different groups of people, but the content of our training and teaching is prepared and designed for early, middle and late adolescence, especially those living in deprived and underdeveloped cities with limited access to the Internet or not even technological and digital devices. Teachers […]

Translating and Distributing ‘Space Scoop’ to Students in Underprivileged Areas of Pakistan

Target location: Pakistan Target audience: School going children who do not have access to the internet. They are particularly hit hard by the school closures due to the pandemic. Students who belong to distant/underprivileged areas of Pakistan where English medium schools do not exist and their education is primarily in Urdu. Apart from this, this […]

OAD Injection Moulding Machine – Recycling waste plastic

Target location: South Africa Target audience: SAAO visitors, Schools Waste plastic is a golden opportunity. The project plans to up-cycle plastic to reduce the impact on the enviroment as well as add to livelihood opportunities. The injection molding machine is suitable for a small scale production facility for manufacturing, for example, breathing masks.

DIY Universe: A Virtual Science Program for Summer Engagement

Target location: United States but students in any other country can have access to the resources Target audience: Youth, ages 11-18, participating in out-of-school time programs, with a particular focus on groups that are under-represented in STEM (including groups focused on girls), and/or are financially disadvantaged. The Christa McAuliffe Center for Integrated Science Learning will […]

e-Amanar: Under the same sky connection

Target location: Sahrawi refugee camps near Tindouf, Algeria. Target audience: The primary target audience of the project are the teachers of the Sahrawi Refugee camps. The goal is to directly engage and collaborate with at least 20 teachers, which, in turn, would allow us to indirectly reach around 400 students. Cooperation is assured considering the […]

Hacking vulnerable people as massive particles

Target location: any, US Target audience: The target audience for the project deliverable, which is software, are resources planners at local government level and hospitals, such as the Delaware partners we are currently working with; but since the project will be produced in a hackathon, the direct audience of the project will be the hackathon […]

Inspiring STEM learning through astronomy in rural Ñuble, Chile

Target location: Chile Target audience: Rural students grades (and their families) 1 – 6 in north Coleal, a poor and extremely rural area of Chile will be the target audience for this project. Due to Covid 19, these students have not had access to education since March 2020. Students live far from the school, and […]

Lowell Observatory’s Native American Astronomy Outreach Program: Book Club at home

Target location: Navajo Nation/USA Target audience: 4th-6th grade students at Kayenta Unified School District (KUSD), Kayenta, Arizona, USA on the Navajo Nation. NAAOP pairs astronomers/educators with 4th-8th grade teachers to work together with the goal of getting Native students interested in STEM and STEM careers. The curriculum uses Project Based Learning to help students see […]

Online collaboration and studentship Assistance Amidst Covid-19

Target location: Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Mauritius, Madagascar, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Rwanda, USA, Canada, Mexico, Uganda, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Gabon. Target audience: University students: Undergraduate (BSc) and Postgraduate (MSc) Online Collaboration and Studentship Assistance Amidst Covid-19 is a focused project to assist Southern African and West African Regional Offices access online […]

Online Learning Web Application for University and High School Students

Target location: Nigeria and West African Countries. Target audience: Students of universities studying Physics & Astronomy and students in high/secondary schools. For students in universities, we will use the curriculum for Physics & Astronomy department of University of Nigeria, Nsukka to develop the lessons. That means we would involve the lecturers of the dept. For […]

Protect Our Stars (POS)

Target location: Bukina Faso Target audience: Students of Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo The project will support the students and supervisors at the Joseph Ki-Zerbo University to resume their work at the university safely, especially when remote activities are impossible. This will involve making reusable local masks, acquisition of recyclable personal protection equipment and handwash for laboratory […]

Providing astronomy inspiration & Hygienic Supplies to underserved families

Target location: South Africa Target audience: The families of the 110 female students enrolled at the Molo Mhlaba primary school in Khayelitsha, and the female students themselves. Informal and partially informal settlements in South Africa are incredibly vulnerable to the spread of the Covid-19 virus. One of the communities in Cape Town is Khayelitsha where […]

Reach for the Stars

Target location: South Africa Target audience: The community of Karoo Hoogland Municipality, Sutherland Fraserburg and Williston which is an amalgamated municipality in the rural Northern Cape Province of South Africa. The Karoo Hoogland municipal area is also host to the South African Astronomical Observatory in Sutherland, which has the biggest optical telescope SALT in the […]

Time and Data for Tutors

Target location: South Africa Target audience: University graduate students who work as tutors for undergraduates. Universities across the world, including in South Africa, are moving to online means for teaching and learning. While the University of the Western Cape has launched a vast campaign to raise funds for laptops and data packages for students, teaching […]

Astwonomi Lakay Vodcasting

Target location: Haiti Target audience: Astronomy enthusiasts and their family members The project aims to release weekly astronomy presentations (audio, video) aimed at families and enthusiasts while they are confined at home. It’s an ongoing project with some episodes already released and the plan is to release an episode each week.

Distribution of PPEs to households around Ghana Radio Astronomy Observatory

Target location: Ghana Target audience: An estimated 5000 people live around GRAO with about 2000 students. This will include basic school, high school and university students. The project intends to reach the community living around the Ghana Radio Astronomy Observatory and distribute face masks, hand sanitizers and other PPEs as well as discuss astronomy as […]

Distance Learning for Home-Bound Students Amid COVID-19

Target location: Tanzania Target audience: Primary and Secondary students and teachers, from both private and public schools, and government education officers. The Distance Learning for Home-Bound Students project directly addresses the education barriers in developing countries such as Tanzania where on-line access and computers are very limited. The project enables teachers to continue engaging their […]

Development on an online platform for Assessment of COVID-19 spread for planning and implementation of timely intervention

Target location: Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania Target audience: National government COVID-19 coordination team and humanitarian assistance entities The project aims to develop an online platform for mapping COVID-19 hots spots in order to provide a near real-time information that will help plan interventions such as location of quarantine facilities, humanitarian assistance, distribution of resources such […]

COVID-19 Support for Internally Displaced Persons

Target location: Nigeria Target audience: Internally Displaced Persons in Kuchingoro IDP camp The project plan is to provide hygiene support at a camp for Internally Displaced Persons in Nigeria. The camp has over 2500 inhabitants mostly living in overcrowded rooms and shared facilities, including 500 children. The project team, which previously visited the camp for […]

Collecting and visualising healthcare facility data for South Africa in response to COVID-19

Target location: The project will collate data and create visualisation resources related to healthcare facilities in SA but re-use of the tools and data will be encouraged by publishing it under open licenses. Target audience: The primary target audience is the general public of South Africa who have an interest in the health care system […]

CO-DIY 20 Mailbox

Target location: Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia Target audience: 9-12 years old primary school children Since the outbreak of COVID-19, children have been spending a lot of time online – virtual classes, online homework or even online birthday parties. The project aims to help them reconnect with the physical world by mailing a […]

Astronomy in a Shoebox

Target location: Canada Target audience: Low income families, patrons dependent on the local Food banks. Often people who depend on Food banks do not have access to the online programming that schools are moving towards since COVID has shut down any in-person learning. With minimal access to technology it poses a disadvantage to youth that […]

Astronomy from Archival Data

Target location: India and all over the world Target audience: Undergraduate, Post Graduate Students, College/University Teachers with a Physics/Maths/Astronomy background. In principle, astronomy enthusiasts with a science background. The project will train students to use the high-quality astronomy data from various facilities. Participants will be shown step-by-step techniques of accessing and analysing astronomy data from […]

Astronomy for All

Target location: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka Target audience: Our primary target audiences are teachers and students from South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The project will continue our outreach efforts and keep it more engaging through different online webinars, training/workshop, interaction, classes, etc. The target audience is […]

Astro-Logos: stories of the history of the Universe

Target location: Italy Target audience: Anyone who speaks Italian and needs to laugh, dream, relax and hope. The combination of all elements (literature, theatre, art, music and astronomy) present in this project has the potential to make the content suitable for a wide audience including kids and young adults. Moreover, the recordings will be publicly […]

Astro-Art Contest for Schools Kids

Target location: Nigeria Target audience: This project is targeted at Elementary and High School Kids (6-15 years) in Nigeria who have been home for months due to the Covid-19 lockdown. This project aims to engage elementary and high school children through an Astro-Art competition. The competition will encourage school children to paint their space imaginations […]

Ask An Astronomer (Pregúntale A Un Astrónomo)

Target location: Perú Target audience: Firstly: School children and young people. Secondly: First year undergraduate students. Thirdly: Any interested people. “Ask an Astronomer” is a science education and outreach project carried out weekly on social media where two Peruvian young astronomers discuss open questions and important topics in astronomy and space sciences. The program will […]

Amateur astronomers’ network as outreach fosters

Target location: Russia and Germany at the first stage. Australia, USA – later. All countries of the world as the indicator of the right pace of the project and right orgatizators in different cites of the world. Target audience: 1. Amateur astronomers (organizers, presenters, lecturers – on one hand, and also beginners who want to […]

AIM – All dIgital reMote

Target location: Brazil Target audience: Children and teenagers from the City of God favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Teachers at public schools and after-school programs who service the community. The AIM project will promote online learning for students in the City of God favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In addition, it will assist […]

“Under the Same Stars” Communications Campaign

Target location: Astronomers Without Borders membership runs through 143 countries, however, we will be targeting all countries in this campaign. Target audience: Our primary target audience is everyone around the world. The project aims to help those who are fighting with mental distress to look up at the sky and feel connected to others around […]

Overview of the project

Project title: National Workshop on Astronomy & Astrophysics in Kathmandu, Nepal Project leader: Prof. Binil Aryal June 25th – 28th, 2013, Central Department of Physics at Tribhuvan University, Nepal Workshop Programme & List of participants The Central Department of Physics at Tribhuvan University has been helping bring the world of Astronomy & Astrophysics to interested […]

Overview of the project (Phase I-2013)

Project title: Starlight in the university: “Astrolab” Project leader: Prof. Jean-Pierre de Grève The project aims at fully developing and implementing a research tutorial, Astrolab, in universities in need of astronomy infrastructure and curriculum, allowing undergraduate students in sciences to perform real-time observations on a remote telescope, and transforming those observations in to a scientific […]

Overview of the project

Project title: Strengthening Astronomy Research at the University level in Rwanda Project leader: Dr. Pheneas Nkundabakura Follow the project here! During the year 2009, IAU donated 5 computers to help students and Lecturers to learn and use astronomy softwares. The computers run completely on Linux. With these computers, the Kigali Institute of Education (Faculty of […]

Overview of the project

Project title: Astronomy for the extremely ill or traumatically injured children and their families, USA Project leader: Dr. Donald Lubowich The purpose of this project is to provide telescope observations and astronomy demonstrations for children, their siblings and adult family members staying at the Ronald McDonald Houses (RMH) of Chicagoland (RMH-Chicago) in conjunction the children’s […]

Overview of the project

Project title: Chinese Ancient Poetry Astrophotography, China Project leader: Ms. Bing Li Our ancestors were closer to the night sky than we are. Celestial objects such as the Sun, the Moon, the Milky Way, star constellations and comets are mentioned in many Chinese ancient poems and stories. The sky nearly never changes. We see the […]

Overview of the project

Project title: Limpopo Astronomy Public Outreach, South Africa Project leader: Mr. Kosma Coronaios Limpopo Astronomy Public Outreach will visit 13 venues in various towns in the Limpopo Province of South Africa over the course of a 5 month period. An astronomy display, set up during the course of the day and part of the evening, […]

Overview of the project

Project title: Astronomical kit for the visually impaired, Spain Project leader: Dr. Amelia Ortiz-Gil Follow the project here: http://astrokit.uv.es/ The goal is to develop a kit with different astronomical activities to help communicators and teachers in reaching children with visual impairments. The kit will consist of: (a) “The sky in your hands“, a planetarium program […]

Overview of the project

Project title: Astronomical measurements in Ancient Greece for students Project leader: Dr. Athanasios Taramopoulos Please follow the project here! Although it is not widely known to students and the public, the ancient Greek philosophers had made a number of accurate astronomical measurements and created successful models in an effort to describe the wonders of the […]

Overview of the project

Project title: Astronomy lectures for university lecturers, students and teachers in Ghana Project leader: Dr. Jacob Ashong A workshop for astronomy development will be offered at the Accra Planetarium to university students and teachers from all over Ghana and neighboring countries – Burkina Faso, Senegal, Nigeria. The goal of the workshop is to bring together […]

Overview of the project

Project title: Dark Skies Outreach to Sub-Saharan Africa, USA/Africa Project leader: Dr. Connie Walker We propose to optimize and implement the successful Dark Sky Rangers / GLOBE at Night citizen scientist program in 12-15 sub-Saharan African countries. The GLOBE at Night program, hosted by the U.S. National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), is an international citizen-science […]

Overview of the project

Project title: Network for Astronomy School Education (NASE), Africa Project leader: Prof. Rosa Ros NASE is a specific project for Secondary and Primary schools teachers. It is crucial to act before the university and research period in the curricula of children and teenagers. Hence it is necessary to educate teachers in astronomy topics. In general, […]

Overview of the project

Project title: Mathare Ambassadors of Astronomy, Nairobi, Kenya Project leader: Ms. Katarzyna Tekien Project Mathare Ambassadors of Astronomy aims at promoting astronomy among primary school teachers and students in the Mathare slum of Nairobi (Kenya) through improving their knowledge and skills, providing educational aids and creating the network of Mathare Ambassadors of Astronomy – a […]

Overview of the project

Project title: Bringing Astronomy to Remote Areas in Vietnam Project leaders: Dr. Nguyen Luong Quang, Dang Tuan Duy & Nguyen Tan Vu Follow the project blog here: http://vutru.wordpress.com/ Vietnam is a developing country with a population of about 90 million people and it is on the way of economic development. However, astronomy is still not […]

Overview of the project

Project title: Galileo Teacher Training Program (GTTP), Nepal Project leader: Mr. Sudeep Neupane In Nepal, astronomy is included in the school syllabus and a very few related contents are included in the higher level education. Teachers in the schools are the general science graduates, usually not experts in astronomy. It indicates the need of a […]

Overview of the project

Project title: The first Guatemalan School of Astrophysics Project leader: Dr. Eduardo Rubio-Herrera We will be launching the first ever GUAtemalan School of Astrophysics (GUASA) which will be held in a rural area of Guatemala every two years. The school aims to bring together local Central American/Caribbean undergraduate students of physics/mathematics/engeneering, with experts from prestigious […]

Overview of the project

Project title: Astronomía Periférica – art & astromomy, Colombia Project leader: Dr. Jaime Forero-Romero Follow the project here: http://astronomia-periferica.org/ Astronomía Periférica is a project aimed at bringing the poetic force of astronomy into the periphery of Latin-American cities. Our tools are art, design and science. The project is embodied in three interdependent activities with one […]

IAU OAD Newsletter #35 October-December 2023

Cover image of the OAD newsletter

The IAU OAD has published its latest newsletter for the October to December 2023 period. Highlights in the newsletter: Conference Deadlines IAU General Assembly 2024: abstracts deadline on 01 March IAU Communicating Astronomy with the Public CAP conference: abstracts deadline on 29 February New astronomy-for-development projects funded in 2024 Previous newsletters are on the website. […]

International C-Link Between Primary School Classes Based On Astronomy

On 13th February, a 1-hour virtual link-up based on astronomy took place between primary schools in Armenia, Ethiopia, Ireland, the Netherlands and Nigeria. The contact was a “try-out” organized by the International Astronomical Union European Regional Office of Astronomy for Development (E-ROAD) at Leiden University. The eventual goal of the programme is to bring together […]

‘Colour the Cosmos’ at Science Forum 2023

By Dominic Vertue and Joyful Mdhluli At Science Forum South Africa 2023, the Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD) extended an invitation to participants, urging them to “Colour the Cosmos” and craft their own exoplanet for a chance to win a telescope. This engaging activity attracted individuals of all ages who enthusiastically painted or drew. […]

Dark Sky Writing Retreat Rejuvenates Students

The OAD’s Astronomy for Mental Health team recently collaborated with the Centre for Sustainability Transitions (CST) in Stellenbosch to organize an innovative writing retreat for Master’s and PhD students. This unique blend of academia and night sky activities aimed to explore the potential of dark sky areas in enhancing concentration and fostering productivity, particularly in […]