2024 Recommended Projects

The Department of Astronomy at the University of Cape Town has a teaching observatory consisting of two optical telescopes and two radio telescopes. These telescopes are used to teach our undergraduate cohort in astronomy but the observing time taken by UCT students on the telescopes is a fraction of the usable nights per year. The department would like to make the facilities remotely available to other universities as a means to enable astronomy teaching through practicals at undergraduate level.

This project aims to make practical astronomy skills and technology accessible to university undergraduate students in South Africa and across the continent as a means to train them and provide them with skills in practical aspects of the physical sciences, skills that are also transferable to other areas and fields.

This will be achieved by:
1) Developing a comprehensive ‘How-to’ guide on setting up a simple university-level teaching observatory which can include optical and/or radio telescopes based on the experience gained at UCT with our teaching observatory.
2) Setting up remote access to the University of Cape Town (UCT) teaching observatory telescopes for use by students elsewhere in South Africa and Africa.
3) Setting up an online repository and website with resources including:
Data from the UCT telescopes (optical and radio)
Background content (slides / videos / programming scripts / jupyter notebooks) on how to process and analyze optical and radio data from the telescopes
Exemplar practical assignments which can be done using a teaching observatory, UCT’s observatory, or data in the online repository
Background astronomy content related to the concepts involved in the practical assignments
4) Training of lecturers / tutors (remotely and/or in person)

Initially the target audience will be Physics departments at previously disadvantaged universities in South Africa and universities across Africa, that have English as a language of instruction and which do not already have, or have access to, teaching observatories. Ideally we will identify a champion at university partners who are interested in implementing one or more astronomy practicals into their physics curriculum through our networks with the South African Institute of Physics (SAIP), the African Astronomical Society (AfAS) and the NASSP alumni network.

Year 1:
Set up website with repository of exemplar practicals with manuals for optical and radio astronomy
Collate a repository of UCT teaching observatory data
Produce supporting documents / videos / jupyter notebooks needed for practicals
Identify and train partners at SA PDIs to use the data for practicals
Pilot remote observing with one partner institute

Year 2:
Incorporate feedback from Year 1 from users into improving the practical materials
Set up automatic scheduling capability for booking observing slots
Train further partners in remote observing
Produce the ‘How to set up a teaching observatory’ guide

A) Problem definition:
The locality of Lathan has been completely in blackout for months, and given the socio-economic, security, and political problems that the whole country and its leaders are going through, restoring electricity is not their priority, and even less so. science education. Living in the area, I see the dismay of the residents, mostly young people, reckless schoolchildren for others, dreaming of the opportunity to recharge their batteries and learn a little science, in addition to learning about the country’s news. Astro-Boost Canal will be a local online station providing electric charging services for mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, laptops, etc.), podcasts in the Haitian language based on astronomy, scheduled and regular readings of written texts by academics, open doors to young guests to express themselves live on science in general, opportunity for teachers in the area to explain a little science life, and many other opportunities.B) Astro-Boost Channel proposed solution:
1. To positively impact their scientific learning, a set of online activities (recorded and live) will be oriented towards the training of young people;
2. For the recharging of the mobile devices of the community plunged into the blackout for months, the source of electrical energy of the station will serve as the main recourse;
3. To express themselves live on their real impressions of science and on their dreams, hours of the live broadcast will be planned for young people in the neighborhood.
4. To ensure the regular reading of scientific works by academics, a recorded text will be provided regularly by a member of the student community.
5. To facilitate Internet access, the WI-FI signal will be shared
6. To facilitate local audio production, recording services will be offered
7. To promote certain local entrepreneurial or artistic innovations, the station will agree to produce and/or broadcast advertising or other specific recordings.
8. To encourage and promote the teachers of the fundamental section of the locality, they will be involved in the realization of certain live broadcasts.

C) Activities:
Recording and online broadcasting of podcasts and videos on astronomy
Charging mobile devices
Availability of Wi-Fi internet
Advertising for local businesses and artists
Platforms for teachers and students
Interactions with the public on science

Problem: Many Teachers in Kavango East and Rundu circuit in particular are having challenges in the deployment of technology in teaching in every subject, (Sciences, 2022).

Proposed Solution: This project proposes to promote and advance science education in the region. The project proposes to use Astronomy and Science Activities to Promote Education and train teachers on how to use astronomy to teach science in interactive ways in Rundu Town and outreach to less privileged communities and schools in remote areas.
The list of activities to be performed includes:
• Measuring the size of the Sun and Moon
• demonstrate how spinning changes the shape of planets
• Measuring the size of the Solar System
• Demonstration how Earth experiences seasons
• demonstrating how eclipses happen
• Observation of the sun
• Playing Astron games
• Setting fire using a thin converging lens
• Constructing solar cookers
• Assembling a solar system model

There is a low number of girls embracing science subjects in senior secondary schools of Obollo-Afor Education Zone of Enugu State, Nigeria compared to that of boys. This attitude translates to more males having higher education qualifications in Astronomy, Physical Sciences, Technology and Engineering than their female counterparts. This attitude affects mostly girls raised in rural areas. Obollo-Afor Education Zone with 50 secondary schools is made up of rural local government areas, namely, Igbo-Eze North, Igbo-Eze South and Udenu. Girls acquiring formal education there are seen as a luxury. Their interest is mostly in getting married to city boys (who are mostly traders and artisans dwelling in semi-/ urban areas) to escape rural dwelling, instead of developing themselves academically. Equally, there is a negative perception that physical science subjects are meant for boys, a consequence of a negative thought that emanated from a cultural perspective that hard tasks are for boys, not for girls. They see mathematical sciences as being difficult. As such, they do not embrace school subjects that require critical thinking. This attitude is a bane for natural increments to the number of girls in the Physical sciences, Engineering and Technology disciplines, which has drastically, unequal’s the women folks with the men in terms of higher degrees in those areas. Thereby indirectly widening gender inequality and opportunity. In addition, there is a lack of STEM outreach in this education zone. All these are challenges animating these problems. One of the ways to get this problem solved is through catch-them-young projects such as the one we are proposing – Astro-Science Quiz and Tour. It will serve as an Astronomy outreach, STEM festival, Cognitive and Affective enhancement action, and career education. Astro-Science Quiz and Tour will be carried out in collaboration with the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) through the Centre for Basic Space Science (CBSS), Nsukka, Enugu, Nigeria. This project shall be in three stages. In stage one, a quiz will be administered to girls in their various schools based on their curriculum. The main aim of this stage is to give each of the girls an equal opportunity to participate in the quiz and to have a chance to be selected as one of the best five girls that will represent their school in the second stage (LGA level) of the quiz and to participate in the tour. Stage two will be career lectures and a tour of Faculties at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka whose programs are in line with STEM. Stage three shall be a tour of CBSS Nsukka. The Astronomy activities include sky viewing, solar systems, observing the lunar phase and new moon sighting. At the CBSS tour, Astronomical pictures and pamphlets shall be distributed to the students. Stage three shall be an inter-school quiz competition to determine the overall winner of the Quiz. Prizes will be given to the winning students and schools.

There is limited knowledge of basic Python programming and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) in Nigerian secondary schools, and this has hindered astronomy development across Nigeria. Most secondary schools in Nigeria are not privileged to have basic coding skills and this affects academic growth. The current trend in astronomy is SETI and Exoworlds. The only way to raise the next generation of astronomy professionals in Nigeria is to catch them young.
This project tends to stand in the gap by providing basic Python programming and SETI classes for secondary schools within the Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area in Enugu State, Nigeria. The project targets four secondary schools within the region and a total of 60 participants. The project will bring their increased participation in STEM and Citizen science projects.

In Africa, the science of astronomy is underrepresented and it’s our mandate as space scientists to ensure its development from the grassroots. In Nigeria, the science of Astronomy/ Space research is at its growth stage and requires proper sensitization at the primary and secondary school levels to ensure increased participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Astronomy science development at the Nigerian secondary schools has been progressive over the years, but, there is a unique set of secondary schools who had been neglected over the years. These secondary schools known as “Technical Colleges” are unique for their fundamental scientific knowledge, practicals, and applied skills. These colleges operate under the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE). To foster Astronomy Development in Nigeria, these colleges with little or zero knowledge of astronomy science are the best institutions to leverage on. The adoption of astronomy science in these colleges will lead to rapid development in astronomy because they have the skills and manpower to produce scientific equipment needed for astronomy development across Nigeria.

The project aims to foster astronomy development in Nigeria by organizing a 3-days astronomy workshop and hands-on sessions in the two Technical colleges in Enugu State, Nigeria respectively. The Technical colleges are Government Technical College, Enugu State, and Government Technical College, Nsukka. The project will reach out to 100 students and their teachers respectively in each school. The Hands-on activities for the project will be on astronomy Do IT Yourself (DIY) projects. These DIY projects include the construction of Galileoscopes, Spectroscopes, and Solar System modeling. The project will adopt lecture topics on the electromagnetic spectrum, refraction and reflection of light, the universe, and types of observational astronomy.

As an astronomy communicator in Nepal, the effect of the project ACEN(2022) has been a success in the regions and community where we needed to penetrate that comprised of the community of minorities, marginalized and underrepresented. The ripple it has created has opened the possibilities of hopes even to those who thought of the impossibilities of embracing Astronomy in their regions. Thus, with the implementation of the projects in different places had been encouraging people to reach out to us helping them with the support and knowledge needed. Thus, we are receiving the request to fill the void of bringing Astronomy to the classroom.
Since Astronomy has been one of the area of interests among Nepali students and enthusiasts, thus, sometimes ‘A’ in STEAM is confused as Astronomy instead of Arts. Therefore, we opt to use the power of Astronomy to foster STEAM education in Nepal to contribute to sustainable development goal 4 i.e. quality education. The idea of this project is to create astronomy club at selected school, train students and help them communicate with their own communities to explore collaborative opportunity sharing their knowledge.
Nepal has a huge gap between community (public) and institutional (private) schools in terms of their teaching-learning approaches. Children from marginalized, underprivileged and underrepresented communities are mostly going to community schools. This gap is creating gender as well as educational disparities in the country. We plan to use astronomy as a tool and astronomy clubs a resource centers for creating conducive environment for communication and collaboration among students at community school, institutional school and their community where both of them exist. We believe that it will help them be more critical towards these disparities and creative to be a part of equitable society. We are targeting community schools as they have less access to the resources compared to institutional schools.This project helps student develop leadership skills through ‘mentee turns into mentor’ at workshop/training, establish astronomy club at their schools with the Telescope kit to conduct outreach activities in their locality/community. This project will help students at community schools build confidence to communicate and collaborate with others students while establishing astronomy clubs at two schools in each province. It will be implemented in 10 schools in five provinces, Sudurpaschim,, Karnali, Lumbini, Koshi and Bagmati Province. As we have been at the verge of completing earlier version of ACEN, we found the development of the community of astronomy lovers and the pool of mentors (local students who are high school pass outs) and the mentees (the targeted group with the power of communication and collaborative approaches.

A 2-Day workshop will be organized for local mentors in Kathmandu, so that after the clubs will be set up at school, they can monitor and support them.

The project intends to make our society logical, scientific tempered which are the bases of sustainable development. From school level if students are allowed in free thinking then they must be able for good questioning which will incline them for science and technology. It is possible through astronomy. Astronomy is fruitful to grow their mental structure. Mental growth is the basic component of sustainable development. Not only physical development our target is to develop from base. If any student is trained in good thinking he must take good decision in future which can be developed through astronomy. A mother if becomes interested i astronomy through story telling he may inspire her son or daughter for science and technology. She may earn using astronomical design which we call astro-embroidery. It is also a sustainable growth in society. Teachers training is one of the parts of the project. Teachers can motivate students through their several activities. A few teachers are with us who are dedicated for applying astronomy. In this long term project our main target is to strengthen mental structure of the society.
In our last project, Astronomy Motivation Activities in Rural India (AMARI), we have tried to involve teachers, students and general public. That was our pilot project. But we are continuing our activities as our level best. It is growing scientific temper among the students. Small experiments, sky-watching through telescope, ppt presentation attract them in STEM. This project will be the extension of our previous project. In this project our targets are, more schools to involve, more frequent teachers’ training, organizing more workshops, employment generation through astro-embroidery, involve skilled economically challenged young for making Teaching Learning Material using astronomy concepts etc. In this project we will design an advance course for XI and XII standard students along with basic astronomy course. Trained-teachers are agreed to join us as volunteers. They will involve themselves as the motivators. Our unique initiation astro-embroidery is now flourishing in rural areas. Village women are being skilled. More women are now interested to join as a volunteer or astro-embroidery expert. At the end of the previous project we have a group of students who are developed a good questioning habit. As the last project here is our target is to develop an astronomical culture.

The overall objective of this project is to provide training in astronomy education to teachers working with children in the primary school stage. The training will be conducted in 20 schools located in municipal capitals, with a priority given to small towns in the Venezuelan Andes mountain range, which are far from urban centers and face challenges such as limited electricity and internet connectivity.

Our approach involves organizing face-to-face visits by the Caronte Astronomical Center (CAC) team to each of the 20 schools in the municipal capitals. During these visits, the teachers will receive a 20-hour course on astronomy education, including hands-on activities for astronomy awareness and observation of the night sky using naked-eye observation and portable optical instruments. These activities will be scheduled throughout the year 2024. As a result, each school will establish an astronomy club or center for astronomical studies, led by teachers and coordinated by Caronte Astronomical Center (CAC).

There has been a worldwide under representation of women when it come to STEM (Science, Technology Engeering anf Mathematics) field. So the aim of our project is to develop model that help solve this problem by inspiring more girls into this field using a Astronomy in South Africa, mainly focusing on schools in rural areas.

In order to achieve this, we plan to host 3-weeks winter school program for 120 girls who are in grade 9, which will run during June/July holidays. During the program they learning and working on different astronomy activities and they will have talks and engage with other women who are in STEM field. We chose this grade as this the last grade where the students after they will have to chose the subjects of specialisation which they will do till they complete matric which is one of the deciding factor on which field they will go to after they have commpleted high school.

Most Primary school teachers’ qualification in Nigeria is TC II or National Certificate of Education (NCE) and the curriculum of these institutions awarding NCE did not contain a structured program in astro-sciences (astrophysics, astrobiology, astrochemistry and others). With the recent review of primary school’s curriculum, there is need to update the primary school teachers (of which about 98% of them are women) within Nnewi-South local government area (a semi-rural setting) in Anambra state in astroscience. During the workshop, participants will receive lectures and handouts/materials in basic astroscience topics. This will be done in collaboration with CBSS, the centre responsible for astronomy enlightenment in Nigeria. This astroscience workshop/training has the potential to equip teachers with the necessary knowledge and skills to create engaging learning experiences, ultimately benefiting both the students and the broader community. This will enhance science education, inspire young minds, and improve scientific literacy.

Since achieving independence over 30 years ago, Ukraine has experienced notable economic, social and cultural advancements. The nation’s progress was steadily gaining momentum, but it was disrupted by the russian full-scale invasion. Due to this, our country faces the constant threat of missile and drone attacks, resulting in major devastation of infrastructure, nature and cultural heritage. Although the path to restoring normalcy after Ukraine’s Victory will be long, we can accelerate this process by planning and testing the rebuilding efforts now, ensuring a solid foundation for the future.

The invasion had also impacted the tourism sector and decreased the number of visitors and revenue. To address this, we propose to leverage astrotourism to revitalize the industry and stimulate economic growth. Ukraine has the lowest light pollution level in Europe, captivating nature and rich culture. All three factors together provide a unique opportunity for Ukraine to become a paradise for astrotourism enthusiasts. We aim to utilize Ukraine’s stargazing potential and existing astronomical infrastructure to attract local and international tourists (when it is safe), promoting astronomy and preserving natural ecosystems.

We plan to start our work in Bakota, a picturesque region near the historic city of Kamianets-Podilskyi, which is experiencing the beginning of tourism development. With its proximity to the Podilski Tovtry National Park, renowned for its rich biodiversity and stargazing potential, Bakota is an ideal location for promoting astrotourism and showcasing the wonders of the night sky. Later we will expand our activity to other locations.

We have outlined the following actions to drive our project forward:
– Launching a website and social media profiles to effectively communicate our astrotourism vision and engage with a broader audience.
– Cultivating partnerships that are essential for the project’s success. We will actively collaborate with the Ukrainian astronomical community, recognizing their invaluable capabilities and expertise. Additionally, we will reach out to tourism businesses in the Bakota region, offering support to help them incorporate astrotouristic value into their offerings.
– Organizing events to promote astrotourism, such as retreat camps, stargazing evenings and visits to observatories, providing immersive experiences that capture the fascination of the night sky.
– Creating an adaptable guideline for astrotourism implementation, based on our own experience and incorporating other valuable resources, for businesses, NGOs and governmental structures. This resource will serve as a practical tool to inspire and facilitate the establishment of astrotouristic initiatives, even beyond our direct involvement.

By implementing these strategic actions, we aim to build a robust foundation for the development of astrotourism in Ukraine, fostering a thriving and sustainable industry that benefits various stakeholders.

AstroTExIn, an extension of the successful AstroTribe project, aims to provide international exposure platform for trained underprivileged students from India and Brazil. Recognizing the limited opportunities for underprivileged students, AstroTExIn seeks to bridge the cultural and hemispheric divide by facilitating an exchange program between the two countries.
The project’s core objective is to expand the horizons of the selected tribal students’ astronomical knowledge and skills while promoting cultural exchange. Through the proposed India-Brazil exchange program, selected tribal students will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in a new cultural environment and gain exposure to different perspectives on astronomy.
The activities planned for AstroTExIn include selecting 2 tribal students from India to visit Brazil and experience the southern skies, while simultaneously sending 2 students from Brazil to India to explore the wonders of the northern skies. During their exchange, the students will engage in interactive workshops, stargazing sessions, and knowledge-sharing sessions with local communities and astronomers. This hands-on experience will enhance their understanding of astronomy, foster cross-cultural connections, and promote mutual learning.
To support the students throughout their exchange and beyond, a robust online networking platform is being developed. This platform will enable continued mentorship and collaboration among the AstroGuides, their mentors, and astrotourism event organizers. By connecting these young AstroGuides globally, the project aims to create a sustainable network for knowledge sharing, skill development, and income generation opportunities.
AstroTExIn addresses the need for inclusivity, empowering underprivileged tribal students by providing them with a unique platform to expand their astronomical knowledge, develop cross-cultural understanding, and gain international exposure. Through this project, we aim to create a pathway for the tribal students to become global ambassadors of astronomy, fostering a sense of pride in their heritage while breaking down barriers and building a brighter future for themselves and their communities.
With the support of OAD, IAU, and our dedicated team, AstroTExIn aspires to make a lasting impact on the lives of tribal students, inspiring them to pursue their passion for astronomy and opening doors to new opportunities that transcend geographical boundaries.

Radio astronomy is a highly inter-disciplinary field involving the subjects mathematics, computer science, engineering, chemistry, biology and physics. This implies that for a successful generation of scientists and engineers to be raised, huge efforts must be made in order to ignite interest in these subjects at an early age. One of the major issues encountered in teaching radio astronomy and STEM courses in Nigeria universities is unavailability of teaching tools. This in turn leads to poor understanding of the complex theories taught in classrooms and lack of the required skills needed by the students to take up a career in astronomy and STEM in general.
A viable solution is to provide teachers with affordable but effective teaching tools. This project focuses on one such tools and centres on an educational Do-IT-Yourself (DIY) low cost and portable hydrogen line radio telescope system that will be primarily used by lecturers in Nigerian universities for teaching the concepts used in radio astronomy such as digital signal processing to their students, exposing them to STEM career opportunities. Building such telescope, with a horn antenna of an aperture of about 40cm by 40cm and gain of about 20dB that is capable of detecting and mapping the 21cm Hydrogen-line emission from our Galaxy is a viable solution to the identified problem associated with lack of skills and capacity for Nigerian Students in this field of science.The project will be multi-phased in nature. The1st phase will involve the preparation of a cook book detailing the building of antenna using locally-sourced materials, the assemble of the receiver system, lesson activities on the use of open source python- based softwares for radio data acquisition and analysis. The 2nd phase will involve conducting a 4-day workshop where lecturers from the various universities will be taken through a full suite of hands-on training sessions on the telescope’s assembly line and lesson activities described in the cook book. Above all, there will be a signed agreement between us and the universities for effective post workshop monitoring so as to evaluate the expected impact of the use of the telescope and also to address all difficulties encountered by the lecturers.

The PACS e-lab project 2.0 aims to address the lack of hands-on experience in astronomy in Africa by introducing citizen science, remote astronomy research, and astrophotography image processing through our online platform, the Pan-African Citizen Science e-Lab. As an astronomy student and now a teacher, I was inspired by my own struggles and experiences.
I started the PACS e-lab project 1.0 in 2020, following my participation in the #LaunchAmerica NASA group, which lead me to contact with people from all over the world participating in citizen science asteroid hunting run by the International Astronomical Search Collaboration (IASC) and platforms like Zooniverse. Using these experiences, I established the Pan-African Citizen Science e-Lab as an online platform to disseminate these programs and engage more Africans.
Initially focusing on asteroid hunting, I taught participants how to use Astrometrica computer software to look for potentially dangerous asteroids using datasets provided by the Pan STARRS telescope via the IASC website. Over the last two years, the project has effectively engaged teachers, students, and space enthusiasts from 40 African countries, and I hope to expand it to the remaining 54 African countries.
Building on the success of my asteroid hunting citizen science project (PACS e-lab project 1.0), I’ve proposed expanding the scope of my projects to include web telescope usage for astrophotography and space research (PACS e-lab project 2.0). Users will be able to use these telescopes to schedule missions and image deep-sky objects including galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters. They will process them to make colored visuals. These telescopes will also be utilized for astronomical research. This hands-on experience which will involve data collecting and handling will enable participants to publish their findings in reputable journals and on posters. The program intends to foster the study of astronomy in diverse physics departments across many African institutions that lack research telescopes but have a love for astronomy research by introducing these projects.

CoAstro: @n Astronomy Condo is a citizen science (CS) project. It acts in two main stages: the engagement of primary school teachers, with research groups (of a Portuguese research unit) and the joint promotion, by teachers, astronomers, and science communicators, of astronomy communication/astronomy education initiatives.
If the use of CS as a scientific technique is very consensual, its use as an open science mechanism and as a science communication and education (SCE) method is not. However, accomplishing science communication and open science goals are two of the most common purposes of CS, highlighted by both scientists and CS project managers alike. Indeed, the advantages of associating science communication and science education have long been known, namely through CS projects, helping to bridge the gap between scientific research and science education. Thus, engaging teachers in CS processes is a natural path, enhanced by the “school effect” and the “teacher effect” in students, but also in the effect these have in student’s families and school community. This “multiplier of influences effect”, provided by schools, is unique and highly positive. On the other hand, one of SCE’s main challenges is to promote participation in science initiatives, by citizens who don’t spontaneously seek to be involved. In astronomy, this is directly related to the lack of knowledge about scientific contents and processes. In Portuguese schools, this type of public is well identified by the initiative CVnE – Clubes Ciência Viva nas Escolas. Among those who must teach astronomy within those schools, primary school teachers are the ones that have the biggest conceptual and procedural gaps in astronomy. Because of these gaps, CoAstro focused on key astronomy concepts and on attitudes and beliefs towards science.
Supported by the conclusions of CoAstro 1st edition, we now want to take the CoAstro’s science communication and education (SCE) stage to students and teachers from the Portuguese districts with lower spontaneous involvement with science.We intend to use this grant to engage all the school community, through the “school effect” and “teacher effect”, in free science dissemination initiatives: night sky and/or solar telescope observations, thematic hands-on activities, “questions and answers” (Q&A) with astronomers and the core activity – “Go Mobile” planetarium shows. For those activities we will use the resources from the science center that support CoAstro, namely, their immersive fulldome planetarium shows and hands-on activities. Drawing from the experience of science communicators, teachers will also be involved in teacher training initiatives, with the intent to work on key contents and teaching methodologies in astronomy, but also to present concrete examples of how to use this field, in curricular terms, as a gateway science: astronomy as a mean to teach Math, Portuguese, Estudo do Meio (natural and physical sciences; geography; history…) a

The Problem: We recognize that contemporary generations are bereft of significant aspects of their culture and history, especially when it comes to the ancient science of astronomy which has been practised universally by cultures through time. Western science itself, built primarily on European-based knowledge systems, also suffers from a lack of this knowledge. Additionally, astronomy and space-related STEM are still generally unknown fields of study or career choices for many Nigerians. While there is some interest, there is a dearth of role models, information, and guidance.

Proposed Solution: We aim to foster connections for Nigerian youth to astronomy and STEM careers by building a relationship for them with their cultural astronomy roots. Our project will produce a one-of-a-kind book, tentatively titled “Cultural Astronomy in Nigeria,” that weaves together Nigerian Indigenous astronomical knowledge with that of Western science. The book will be geared toward secondary school students and families and communities in Nigeria. It will explore the astronomical history, practices, and knowledge systems of various Nigerian cultures, sharing their rich heritage with Nigerian youth. The book will also include corresponding concepts in Western astronomy in a way that demonstrates both knowledge systems as equally valid, valuable, and vital. As a special feature, the book will highlight personal stories and figures from both Nigerian and Western astronomy – both historical and contemporary.

Activities to Be Undertaken: We will travel to the origins of culturally-based, Nigerian astronomical knowledge, visiting sites where astronomical events occurred and interviewing royal and cultural leaders to obtain permission and firsthand information of their culture’s relationship to astronomy. We will also interview contemporary Western astronomers and space scientists working on the leading edges of discovery. We will engage professional artists to create captivating illustrations, graphics, and images that will engage readers with the content and develop a deeper appreciation for cultural diversity, the wonders of the Universe, and possibilities of the field. If approved by Elders and cultural leaders, we may pursue a graphic novel format. Once the book is produced, we will print copies through NASA’s in-house reproduction services. We will work with local partners (including school systems, OAD Nigeria, AWB Nigeria, and other OAD-funded initiatives in Nigeria) to organize workshops, lectures, and events that facilitate interactive learning experiences and engage learners in the exploration of cultural astronomy. The project will be conducted over two years, involving research, content creation, publishing (years one and two), and outreach activities in collaboration with partners (year two). The project becomes sustainable through these partners who can continue using the book with their learners over time.

Women in Mozambique are still reluctant in taking careers in STEM despite the efforts undertaken by the government to promote equal opportunities for both women and men to undertake professional careers in STEM. Notably, between 2013 to 2017, the total number of women who enrolled in a STEM course in their higher education represents 3.6%. To address this gap, our proposed projects aim to spark interest in young girls to pursue careers in STEM through a one-year mentorship program in marginalized communities. The project activities will be practical based such as carrying out observations using an optical telescope and the creation of solar system models to tap on their creativity and practical skills. Moreover, in order to promote a sense of community in the program, we intend to engage Community Based Organizations such as Community Association for the Development of Women.

The project will be conducted in four parts which include; a workshop, a practical, development of projects by participants and lastly career guidance and follow-up.The first session will be a 4-week workshop where participants will be inducted on STEM courses with a specific focus on basics of astronomy. This session will cover the solar system, the phases of the moon, eclipse of the moon and sun, seasons of the year, days and nights and the tides of the oceans.

The second segment will be a practical session dubbed “Hands on Work” where participants will learn the various optical telescope components, how to set-up and dismantle the telescope and make necessary adjustments for optimal viewing. The exercise will also involve night sky observation where participants will apply the knowledge learnt from the preceding section to observe celestial objects such as the moon, stars and planets.

The third aspect of the program will include participants developing practical projects based on what they have been taught. This exercise will allow the participants to tap on their creativity, problem solving, team work, attention to detail and communication skills which are crucial in professional growth. The program will facilitate the materials and resources needed to develop these projects.

The fourth and last unit will be “Career Guidance ” where career guidance sessions will be conducted, to inform the girls about the different career paths available in astronomy and other STEM fields. Successful women scientists and engineers will be invited to share their experiences and inspire the girls to pursue their interests in these fields.

Many global challenges are having a direct impact on young people today. From income inequality to war to the pandemic to climate change, the youth have many reasons to struggle in present times. Young people are finding it harder to pursue education during a cost of living crisis or are struggling to find stable and satisfactory work – the case is exacerbated for minority groups. Combined with the stress and anxiety of the climate crisis, these challenges are having severe repercussions on health and wellbeing (The Lancet, 2021).

We propose to help and support young people via the International Astronomical Youth Camp (IAYC) 2024. Using astronomy as a gateway science (Salimpour et al. 2021), we will attract young people aged 16-24 from a diverse range of backgrounds to gain STEM skills in a non-formal educational environment. Importantly, there are no requirements for the participant to have any prior scientific knowledge or experience, and all are welcome to apply. In a survey completed in 2019, we asked 307 participants about their experience of the camp, and their personal and professional lives since attending (Dalgleish et al. 2019). Of the respondents, ~80% of participants had never studied astronomy before attending. Some felt more confident about pursuing a scientific career, or that they belong in science, especially as a minority in STEM. The IAYC also helps participants to network, find mentors, and pursue opportunities abroad. There are other benefits too, such as cultural exchange, the ability to navigate life’s challenges, and broaden horizons and perspectives of the world. All of these aspects equip young people with the tools needed to endure today’s global challenges.

In more detail, the IAYC 2024 will be a three-week international astronomy camp held in Europe (either Spain, Poland, Germany, Holland, or UK), in a remote location with access to dark, starry nights. Around 64 participants will attend from at least 25 countries and 3 continents, ranging from high school to MSc level. The participants will be organised into 7-8 working groups covering astronomy-related topics (e.g. astrophotography, cosmology, instrumentation, archeoastronomy). Projects can include theory, observation, and/or practical applications, and usually involve Python. Participants also learn LaTeX to write up a report. They work together in pairs, encouraging participants to develop teamwork skills. Overall, the camp simulates an “affinity space”, whereby people come together via a shared interest and advance their knowledge by being around others from different backgrounds (Gee 2004).

Dalgleish et al. (2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41550-019-0965-y
Gee, J. P. Situated Language and Learning: A Critique of Traditional Schooling (Routledge, 2004).
The Lancet (2021). DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(22)01572-0
Salimpour, S., et al. (2021). DOI: 10.1007/s11165-020-09922-0

The main objective of the project is to produce a new updated dictionary of science and technology in the Swahili language (“Kamusi ya Sayansi na Teknolojia”). While an earlier version of the Kamusi exists as discussed, there is a need to update the Kamusi. The Kamusi does not have new scientific terms and knowledge developed over the last thirty years. We also hope to update it with methodological innovations. The first is to emphasise that the new vocabulary developed for new terms (e.g Blazars, Higgs Boson, etc) be obtained from African languages in the continent. Especially in Astronomy, the rich cultural astronomy of the continent will be drawn upon in the labelling of astronomical objects and phenomena, when the terms for these exist. Interviews and surveys will be conducted with community elders in Bantu, Nilotic and Cushitic communities to obtain names and terms of astronomical objects and astrophysical processes.

The aim of this project is to help give Swahili speaking communities, and African communities in general, cultural ownership of science and technology. It is well understood that concepts are better understood in one’s native or colloquial language. The Kamusi will help encourage science education in schools and communities. Secondly, through distribution in other regions other than East Africa, it will build science and cultural diplomacy links with institutions and countries teaching Kiswahili in Southern and West African countries.

After production of the Kamusi, there will be a launch and distribution in the continent. We are in the process of establishing contact with African High School and University Institutions which will receive the Kamusi. A Swahili Afrofuturist-Africanfuturist science fiction writing competition will be held, where the Kamusi will be used to generate plot devices for a short science fiction story written in Swahili. The best writing will be rewarded, on the basis of Regional Economic Communities (RECS ) architecture. This is to ensure fairness (the writing ability of a Southern African should not be measured against that of an East African). Other promotional activities will be explored.

Other means of measuring outcomes will be used, for example learning from teachers and lecturers where Dictionaries have been deployed as to the impact of the Kamusi on learning outcomes.
After the project’s timeline, the sustainability model of the project will be engaged where bookshops and distributors will be engaged with for the selling of the Kamusi in the Continent and around the world.

There is no Planet B. We are living in critical times, where it is very urgent for us to plan human activity to combat climate change. Astronomy has the advantage of seeing “the big picture” of our place in the universe and understanding how vulnerable the Earth is and the very miniscule probability of ever finding an alternate Earth.
In India, all students doing undergraduate courses with any specialization have to compulsorily do a course on environment science. This course, in most places, doesn’t include an astronomers perception of climate change. Astronomers have a special viewpoint on Earth and climate change since we have knowledge of other planets in the universe. As a result, we recognize how vulnerable Earth is and the impossibility of discovering another planet like Earth.
We plan to conduct 2 two-day training programs to train undergraduate teachers of Environmental Science on this unique perspective that can be used to add a module in the undergraduate course. We shall also provide these teachers with written material and instructional videos to equip them to teach these topics. We will focus on the atmosphere and habitability of the Earth, how Venus and Mars are unhabitable due to various possible scenarios and the study of exoplanets.
A lot of reading material, quizzes, data sources, analysis techniques, etc will be made available on our website (https://shristiastro.com) as well as on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/@ShristiAstronomy). This can be used by teachers to train themselves. As a pilot program, we will do this for all Environmental Science teachers in and around our university. We will work towards programs in our university initially and then exend it nationally. We hope that with the two training programs and the material provided, we will encourage teachers to add this to their syllabus. This will also be good in spreading awareness of astronomy to all undergraduate students. We will freely provide all the material on our website so that others can easily add this to their syllabus.
In 2014-2016, in the University of Hyderabad, Prof S N Hasan gave a series of lectures on a similar concept in the Integrated Masters Program of the Earth Sciences Department.

Insular communities are tendentiously deprived of the same general development (social, technological, etc…) observed in their continental peers. In an attempt to prevent that, many of such communities have their own autonomous government, and it is a common practice the existence of different types of subsidies when the central government is in continental territory. These positive incentives towards equity can only do so much, and we ought to aim for more when and wherever possible.

This project is to be held in São Tomé e Príncipe, a country comprising two main islands in the Gulf of Guinea. More precisely, we will target the Island of Príncipe hosting less than 10% of the country’s population. Despite the small size, one can still identify clear differences between urban and rural communities. Socially, this is a problem. Not only does the geography play a stark limitation, but the social context has been seen not to contribute positively to the island’s equitative development. The proposed project thus aims to tackle this socio-technological puzzle by combining Astronomy, Physics, and the practice of Judo as a tool towards breaking externally and self-imposed stereotypes preventing families from escalating the socio-economic ladder throughout generations.

This island may sound familiar with good reason, since it was one of the two places from which the 1919 Solar eclipse was documented, giving the second major peace of supporting evidence to the theory of general relativity proposed by Albert Einstein. This island – near the Earth’s equator – does not have your astronomy-friendly climate: it has one long rainy season lasting nine months. Our goal at its basis, intentionally makes use of this apparent contradiction to show the community that one can observe the Universe even under pouring rain. That’s the beauty of radio astronomy.
The project is broken into different avenues:

A) students 10 to 12yr: there are five schools in the island with students in this age range. Each one is planned to make one visit to the Príncipe Planetarium, where, in a single morning, the students will visit the exhibitions in the facilities, see a Planetarium session, and finish up with a session of “Physics through Judo”.

B) students 13 and 14yr: the “Physics through Judo” activity is instead split into four sessions, where the concepts in Physics are explained in more detail. More over, throughout the school year, the groups will be handed with math and physics games, exercises, and projects that can even turn into regular activities during recess in school (e.g., building a solarscope making use of cardboard and aluminium foil).

C) students 15 to 17yr: the activity to pursue throughout the year will be instead to build a horn antenna with which to observed the galactic 21cm line. The goal is to build the bulk of the antenna out of house-hold materials, specifically out of cardboard, aluminium foil, and a can (electronics and computer need to be bought).

District 6 of Soacha, Cundinamarca, faces problems that impact all its residents. In neighborhoods like Altos de la Florida, there are various tourist attractions that can help alleviate the issues faced by its inhabitants, who are mostly families displaced by violence and settled in these areas. The main problems affecting this society include limited access to formal education, social stigmatization, and informal employment. Despite being located in areas with high tourism potential, such as the hills of the municipality, which feature pre-Hispanic Muisca pictograms and elders connected to the historical narratives of their ancestors, these challenges persist.

As a project, we aim to promote the face of the community that is rooted in ancestral wisdom, nature conservation, and the admiration of celestial bodies through astronomical tourism. This will be facilitated by the establishment of the first planetarium in Soacha, which will be a valuable resource shared with the entire community. By providing educational programs, we hope to instill in future generations an appreciation for their territory while improving their educational opportunities.

The planetarium will contribute to infrastructure development as it will be the first of its kind in the municipality. The team consists of two trained astronomers who will offer astronomy education to the community, ultimately benefiting the project’s beneficiaries. This initiative will generate growth opportunities, employment, and tourism development while fostering a sense of ownership and expanding knowledge. The project aims for inclusive participation of the entire community in science and, specifically, astronomy.

The project’s sustainability will be supported by Colombia’s communal law, specifically Law 2166 of 2021, Article 25, which provides resources for schools to visit educational sites such as a Cultural Planetarium. This ensures the ongoing maintenance of the planetarium and provides a salary for the community members who will be trained to operate the facility with a focus on astronomical and cultural interests.

The main objective of the project is to provide astronomy training to the entire community. As a non-profit group dedicated to the dissemination of this science, we have extensive experience working with schools, conferences, research groups, and astronomy clubs, which have enriched our outreach efforts. The planetarium will serve as the perfect complement to continue promoting science and astronomy in isolated areas that are rich in indigenous traditions and other culturally significant astronomical attractions.

Problem: The lack of skills and knowledge necessary to promote innovation and sustainable growth in Africa, particularly in the field of radio astronomy, is hindering the development of an indigenous workforce capable of contributing to projects related to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) and other scientific endeavors. Schools and universities often lack the necessary teaching materials and expertise in radio astronomy, and professional radio observatories are scarce or too expensive for educational purposes.

Proposed Solution: Our proposed solution is to create opportunities for students and learners to gain hands-on experience with science and engineering, familiarize them with experimental and observational models, and promote the basis of scientific investigation. By providing training workshops for teachers and universities, we aim to empower educators and institutions to teach astronomy effectively and encourage undergraduate and graduate students to pursue academic research in the field of radio astronomy.

Activities: Our project will commence with an initial workshop aimed at “teaching the trainers.” This workshop will bring together secondary/high school teachers and university instructors from the 4 target African countries, starting with the PARTS committee members and teachers, lecturers, and trainers in Namibia, and provide them with the necessary knowledge and skills to construct radio telescopes using locally available materials. The workshop will also cover instructional strategies for incorporating radio astronomy into their teaching curriculum.

In the long term, we plan to conduct hands-on training workshops across Africa, where the participants from this first workshop hosted in Namibia will serve as champions in their respective countries and regions, targeting both high school teachers and university faculty members. These workshops will focus on imparting knowledge and skills related to radio astronomy, including the construction and operation of radio telescopes. By equipping educators with the necessary resources and know-how, our project aims to foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of radio astronomy among students, encouraging them to pursue further studies and research in this field.

Many regions with good starry sky resources and observatories are relatively impoverished. This may due to their high altitude, arid conditions, and sparse population. Such regions also tend to lack educational resources. We aim to provide astronomy training to residents of locations such as the Mingantu Observatory in Inner Mongolia, the FAST telescope in Guizhou, the Lenghu in Qinghai, the Gaomeigu Observatory in Yunnan, and the Urumqi Observatory in Xinjiang. This will help develop local tourism resources and promote economic growth without compromising the local observation conditions.

We notice that traditional astronomers often lack experience in popular science, communication, tourism services, and educational psychology. Therefore, we plan to collaborate with observatories and utilize popular communication platforms like Douyin and Kuaishou to disseminate our training content. We will also employ both peer motivation and challenge incentives to engage participants.

1) Establish contact with the observatories through the NAOC and inform local schools about this public activity. Simultaneously, our team’s media devision will publicize the initiative to society, leveraging the reach of KOL in popular science. It is estimated that about 1 million people will see this project, with around 20,000 people from the target areas.

2) With a team of experienced astronomy teachers, we plan to produce 60 tutorials on constellations and celestial phenomena visible to the naked eye, tailored to the local sky conditions and the needs of residents and tourists. These tutorials will be provided for free to the residents of these regions. We will also introduce a “Starry Sky Check-in Mini-App” that includes periodic assessments to track participants’ progress. The mini-app will have 10 difficulty levels, each comprising 20 different observation targets. Completing 15 out of 20 observation targets will allow participants to advance to the next level. The mini-app will display the current level of each participant.

3) Adults who excel in the program and pass remote interviews will have the opportunity to become “starry sky mentors”. Their information will be available on the mini-app, connecting them with individuals interested in local tourism. We will conduct regular remote tests to evaluate and support the mentors’ growth.

3) Students participating in the program will receive free online learning materials accessible via mobile devices. As a reward, we will provide 120 astronomy kits to students from the regions involved. Additionally, students who excel in the “Starry Sky Check-in Challenge” will have the opportunity to visit nearby observatories and engage in scientific exchanges, fully funded.

Through these initiatives, we aim to improve educational levels, promote economic development, and harness the potential of astronomy as a tool for balanced education and overall growth in impoverished regions with astronomical resources.

In post COVID 19 Situation, local living conditions of rural women including education, employment and gender values have changed a lot. Post Covid 19 has led to lot of school dropouts especially among girl children, early childhood marriages, lost employment opportunity, huge stress in education , situations of return migrants especially among women, increased Gender Based Violence, etc.

Our target area is Batlagundu Block in Dindigul District; one of the most backward block and with large number of Textile/Garment mill workers and Home Based Garment workers. The home based garment workers are mostly young women who are return migrants from nearby districts and have fewer employment opportunities. They are mostly educated with Under Graduation and /or above, from oppressed communities, with low gender value and victims of gender based violence. They are also mothers to school going children and are also care takers to other school going children in their family.

Basic Astronomy Education is included in subjects to these children in grade 4th and above in recent past by Government of Tamilnadu. As post Covid 19 has led to low resource settings in educational sector , children find it hard to match to these subjects. Tamilnadu Government has also taken up good initiatives such as “ Illam Thedi Kalvi”( Education at Door Step Initiatives) through volunteers to bridge the gap. But, these volunteers too have low knowledge in Basic Astronomy and Math and find hard to support the children the for quality education.

This opens up opportunities to both these young women in Home Based Garment works and the Volunteers to enhance their careers in Astronomy through developing as entrepreneurs in Astronomy ( Astro-Preneurs) and creating passive income .
The proposed activities are
1. Appointment of 2 Astro-Prenuer Educators and 1 community organizer cum assistant and equipping them on the project.
2. Development of Educational Materials, Curriculum and Manuals for the training.
3. Pre-Assessment, Identification and Selection of 60 young women from Home Based Garment work and Educational Volunteerism with basic science background.
4. Running of week end ( Saturday and Sunday) education sessions to these 60 selected women in batches ( 48 Sessions to each in 2 batches of 6 months each) .The session include lectures, visual learning, Hands on Experiments, practical observations, utilization of online resources including mobile and desktop applications, Digital Financial Literacy, etc.
5. One Graduation after six months, the women will be supported for micro Kick-start Kits to the Astro-Prenuership and for Collective Online Marketing ( Ex: Amazon, etc.) and Free Websites building ( Ex: Wix, etc.)
6. Celebration of vital days to enhance community participation and advocacy works.
7. Post Assessment and submission of final reports.

The team sees astronomy as an entry point to science and the scientific method in general for the youth of Benin. Everyone in our country sees the sky and wonders about the universe, but due to the lack of scientific education, beliefs can be stronger than scientific facts.
The SPACE BUS Benin is a travelling caravan designed to promote astronomy and space science in 5 science and technical universities in Benin, by organizing scientific, educational and cultural activities for students. The Space Bus is made up of a bus and scientific and educational astronomy equipment designed to educate and raise awareness among science and engineering students of the importance of space science for Benin. The aim of the Space Bus Benin is to set up an astronomy club in each of the universities visited, to help popularize science and technology throughout the country.

The problem:
From my teaching experience, I note that senegalese (and more generally african) students do not see any professional future with scientific studies in their country. A scientific career would automatically refer to a career abroad. However the country is developping in those fields, but the students are not sufficiently informed at high school level. The other part of the problem is that the students do not know that their country has a scientific history.
The proposed solution:
The aim of the project would be to raise awareness of opportunities of studies and professional careers in science in Senegal, or even in Africa.
Three main types of activities would be provided:
– the teaching of mathematics using astronomy, in order to increase the number of scientific vocations, among girls and boys.
– practical astronomical activities (observation with telescopes during the day at school or during the night outside, astronomical data handling with Python, etc)
– visit infrastructures (associations, companies) and/or meet professionals.
Part of the solution would also be to highlight the scientific past or history of the country (astronomy was used in Senegal for centuries to calculate the precise local prayer times, some very old megaliths sites seem to be related to astronomy, etc)

In Africa, Space science education at the secondary school level has been undermined and there is a need for an urgent awakening. This project aims to bring space science and astronomy education closer to secondary school students through hands-on astronomy workshops. In Nigeria, experimental astronomy is not well incorporated into the secondary school education curriculum; theories are taught with little or no practical work to back them up. This project tends to bridge this gap by providing extensive hands-on workshops and Do It Yourself (DIY) for increased STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) participation.

The target audience of this project will be 5 rural secondary schools within the Nnewi metropolis in Nnewi-North Local Government Area, Anambra State, Nigeria. The project targets a total of 100 participants. The participants will be science students who will be selected through their various schools. This project will be carried out in collaboration with the Centre for Basic Space Science, National Space Research and Development Agency (CBSS-NASRDA), Nigeria. CBSS-NASRDA hosts the West African ROAD, through their unwavering assistance, the project will create a meaningful impact on these young Nigerians.

Astronomy clubs will be created in these secondary schools after the successful completion of the project with adequate follow-ups.

In May 2020, GLAS Education (NAROAD member), in partnership with the WAROAD, launched a project to provide students whose astronomy opportunities had been reduced or discontinued due to COVID to participate in remote observing with the 0.5-meter Stone Edge Observatory telescope. 23 Data hotspots were purchased so students could participate remotely with astronomers and staff at GLAS Education on a variety of projects and expand the number of people able to participate. The work resulted in 30 online planning and teaching sessions, the compilation of online resources in a Google Classroom, over 50 hours of observing, three presentations at professional conferences, an AAS Education Blog feature, and two published papers. In spite of these successes, there remains enormous untapped potential.

The new project seeks to build a cohort of leaders and participants, increase the number of women participants, increase cultural understanding across ROADs, stabilize retention of new participants, promote consistent progress toward research goals, and provide specialized research training opportunities. Furthermore, the skills obtained within the context of these projects will provide a foundation for big data applications and Python programming proficiency, necessary for both academic and industry positions.

Toward these goals the project will:
– Support experienced student project leaders to provide self identifiable role models for students in West Africa and liaison with the GLAS Education survey leadership team in understanding the challenges that students are facing with respect to content and technology
– The student project leaders, Chioma Franklynda Okany, Nnaemeka Njoku-Achu, and Peter Onubi have agreed to dedicate an average of 5 hours per week toward continued work with SEAS, ensuring that the 10 participants who have been part of the project for the past one – two years make regular progress, recruit new participants, and co-design exchange programs
– Provide laptop computers to student project leaders
– A number of students have both expressed interest in, and many already started the graduate school application process. Funds received will go towards stipends for these applications and for requisite testing fees to help remove barriers when applying to graduate school.

As the Astronomy for Development organization puts it, “Astronomy for Development is about PEOPLE, not the STARS.” For this reason, it is also a gateway science. It inspires collective curiosity and awe from people of all backgrounds. After all, the mysteries of the night sky have been pondered by all for the span of humanity’s existence. We, at GLAS, spend a large portion of our time thinking about how to engage scientists, both future and present, and we are excited to continue working with them and have conversations “with” the universe, rather than “about” it, together.

To implement our project, we need a lot of time to teach astronomy to people .
Then coordinating and creating a cultural platform for the implementation of the project.
which requires a lot of training and scientific and economic justification for the officials of that region.
Then the preparation of materials, design and implementation of sundials.
The mentioned items require a lot of movement and frequent visits.