Contests

International Astronomy and Astrophysics Competition 2025 (win awards worth 1400 USD + telescopes signed by Nobel Prize laureates)

Posted on: 22 Apr, 2025 Deadline: 04 Jul, 2025

The International Astronomy and Astrophysics Competition is an educational science competition that enables students from all countries to test their skills in astronomy and astrophysics. Participants can receive certificates, awards, cash prizes, and global recognition.

For Teachers and Schools

Teachers, schools, and parents are invited to share IAAC as an extracurricular learning opportunity for students with an interest in science. We provide learning materials, flyers, and posters, and our team supports you with any issue. There are also special awards for teachers and schools: More Information

Eligibility Criteria for International Astronomy and Astrophysics Competition 2025 (win awards worth 1400 USD + telescopes signed by Nobel Prize laureates)

Current high school and university students from all grades and countries are eligible. There are three age groups:

Junior: 10th Grade and below (and < 16 years of age)
Youth: 11th to 13th Grade (and < 19 years of age)
Senior: 1st Year College/University and higher (or ≥ 19 years of age)

Depending on your age group, you will have to solve more problems to qualify for the next round. See details about the age geoup below. To solve the problems, you should be open-minded and creative. As some problems may require you to read real-world research material, fluency in English is beneficial. You should have a working internet connection to submit your solution online.

Age Groups

Current high school and university students from all grades and countries are eligible to participate in three groups:

Junior: 10th Grade and below (and < 16 years of age)
Youth: 11th to 13th Grade (and < 19 years of age)
Senior: 1st Year College/University and higher (or ≥ 19 years of age)

Students from all age groups will receive the same problems in all rounds. However, students in higher groups need to score more points to qualify for the next round:

To qualify for the Pre-Final Round:
Junior: ≥ 15 Points in the Qualification Round
Youth: ≥ 17 Points in the Qualification Round
Senior: ≥ 20 Points in the Qualification Round
To qualify for the Final Round:
Junior: ≥ 16 Points in the Pre-Final Round
Youth: ≥ 20 Points in the Pre-Final Round
Senior: ≥ 24 Points in the Pre-Final Round

FAQs

My age or grade changes after the submission deadline. To which group do I belong?

Your grade/age on the day of the submission deadline of the Qualification Round (i.e., ) determines your age group, and it will not change throughout the competition.

What if I am in a gap year (i.e., between high school and university)?

If you are not yet 19 years old, you will be considered a Youth; otherwise, you will be considered a Senior.

Benefits of International Astronomy and Astrophysics Competition 2025 (win awards worth 1400 USD + telescopes signed by Nobel Prize laureates)

Participating allows you to apply your astronomy skills to interesting problems and to learn about topics beyond the school curriculum. The top performers receive the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes, with awards worth 1400 USD, including cash prizes and telescopes signed by astronaut Frank De Winne and Nobel Prize laureates François Englert, Gerard 't Hooft, Michel Mayor, and Didier Queloz. All participants receive participation certificates.

There are also national awards for the best participants from each country. Here's a breakdown:

1. Prize, Senior

75 USD Cash Prize + Special 1. Prize Certificate + BRESSER NANO AR-80/640 Telescope worth 250 USD signed by astronaut Frank De Winne and Nobel Prize laureates François Englert, Gerard 't Hooft, Michel Mayor, and Didier Queloz sponsored by "Stars Shine For Everyone" (SSVI)

2. Prize, Senior

125 USD Cash Prize + Special 2. Prize Certificate

3. Prize, Senior

75 USD Cash Prize + Special 3. Prize Certificate

1. Prize, Youth

50 USD Cash Prize + Special 1. Prize Certificate + BRESSER NANO AR-80/640 Telescope worth 250 USD signed by astronaut Frank De Winne and Nobel Prize laureates François Englert, Gerard 't Hooft, Michel Mayor, and Didier Queloz sponsored by "Stars Shine For Everyone" (SSVI)

2. Prize, Youth

100 USD Cash Prize + Special 2. Prize Certificate

3. Prize, Youth

50 USD Cash Prize + Special 3. Prize Certificate

1. Prize, Junior

125 USD Cash Prize + Special 1. Prize Certificate

2. Prize, Junior

75 USD Cash Prize + Special 2. Prize Certificate

3. Prize, Junior

25 USD Cash Prize + Special 3. Prize Certificate

National Awards

Special National Award Certificate (top three participants of each country)

All Finalists

Participation Certificate, Bronze Honour, Silver Honour or Gold Honour

All Pre-Finalists

Official Participation Certificate

All Participants

Official Participation Certificate

All participants who write their Qualification Round solutions using a professional computer program (e.g., TeX) receive a special honourary note on their certificates.

FAQ: Do I receive a hard copy of the certificate(s)?

IAAC will send hard copies of the certificates to all 1st, 2nd and 3rd Prize winners. All other participants, including the finalists, will receive a soft copy version of the certificates, which also includes a permanent verification-IDs: Verify Certificate

National Awards

Since the International Astronomy and Astrophysics Competition is a global competition with participants from various countries, we honour the top three participants from each nation with a special national award certificate who achieve at least 50% of all points in the Final Round. A list of the top national scorers will be published online on our website.

Awards for Ambassadors

Each year, special awards are given to the most active and responsible ambassadors to honour their excellent performance. The IAAC coordinators use the information about the number of participants that you encouraged, as well as your documented activities & pictures, to honour the following awards:

1x IAAC Ambassador Award for Most Overall Participants: The ambassador who has encouraged the most students to participate in IAAC will receive this award.
1x IAAC Ambassador Award for Most Finalists: The ambassador who was able to support most students in progressing into the final round will receive this award.
IAAC Ambassador Award for Excellent Encouragement:Ambassadors who are extraordinarily active in their local community, have documented numerous activities to inspire students in astronomy, or have supported students to join IAAC receive this award.

Awards for Schools

IAAC understand the crucial role of teachers and schools in scientific education. Because of that, they award three types of school awards to honour the efforts of the teachers and the school (the awards are not connected to cash prizes):

1x IAAC School Award for Most Participants: This award receives the school with the most overall participants in the Qualification Round.
1x IAAC School Award for Most Finalists: This award receives the school with the most overall participants in the Final Found.
IAAC School Award for Excellence:Schools with many outstanding students who have achieved high results throughout the overall competition or have shown particular support for their students while participating receive this award.

FAQ: How do schools participate to win the awards? Schools participate automatically if a student registers with the school name. Please make sure that all of your students write the school name correctly and in the same way. Also, they recommend that the school's teachers register at IAAC.

Further Achievements

Participating in international competitions contributes to your personal development and is an excellent achievement for your academic career. Participating in IAAC is a unique experience that will expand your knowledge, get you closer to real-world research and connect you with like-minded students.

Global Network

Winners and former participants of IAAC become part of the international IAAC network: This network consists of outstanding and talented students from all around the world! It enables you to get in touch with inspiring youths and to connect with students worldwide. If you have successfully participated, you will receive all information about our alumni network from us.

Opportunities (e.g., Scholarships)

Our team is working constantly to provide former participants with information about international and regional opportunities, including scholarships, sponsored events and other competitions. We will send the relevant information to qualified participants directly and publish them via the alumni platform.

Regional Meetups

The IAAC team and local ambassadors frequently organize meetups in several parts of the world. All participants are welcome to attend and get in touch with other space enthusiasts.

How to Apply

Process and Rounds

1. Qualification Round (Five astronomy problems to be solved at home until Friday, 04 July 2025)

The Qualification Round is the first stage and consists of five astronomy problems. The problems in the Qualification Round encompass a wide range of topics, varying in difficulty and discipline. Some of the problems test your astronomy knowledge; others require calculations. Each problem gives 5 points, and to qualify for the Pre-Final Round in August 2025, you have to score at least 15, 17, or 20 points based on your age group.

Successful participants are honored with certificates. Digitally typed solutions receive a special honorary note on the certificates.

You can find the Qualification Round problems of 2025 here. The submission deadline for the Qualification Round is 4 July 2025, 23:59 UTC+0, but we recommend submitting your solution some days before the deadline.

Please submit your solution to the Qualification Round problem sheet via the official submission form. Afterwards, you can edit your submission and access your certificates online.

Submit Solution

2. Pre-Final Round (Four days to solve six challenging problems, including real-world research papers)

Qualified participants can register for the Pre-Final Round. The problems will be more challenging but also more engaging! You have four days to solve the problems, which include reading a real-world research paper. The Pre-Final Round consists of six problems that vary in difficulty, points, and subject: 2x Basic Problems (4 Points), 2x Advanced Problems (6 Points), and 2x Research Problems (8 Points).

All participants who are qualified and registered for the Pre-Final Round will receive the problems via email or via their participant account on Thursday, 14 August 2025. From that day on, you have until Sunday, 17 August 2025, to solve as many problems as possible. This year's registration costs are 11 EUR to fund the competition. Learn More (Registration Costs Flyer) (Financial aid is available to assist socio-economically disadvantaged participants.)

3. Final Round (A supervised online exam with twenty questions that takes place on the same day internationally)

Participants who have solved the Pre-Final Round successfully are qualified to participate in the Final Round: a multiple-choice online exam with 20 questions. The questions require knowledge of astronomy and astrophysics, as well as the content of the previous rounds.

The online exam is conducted in the participant's school, where a teacher supervises each finalist. Alternatively, participants can also self-record their and upload the video. In this case, no teacher is needed. The awards and prizes are given to the finalists with the most points in the Final Round. You can find more information about all three rounds here: Process and Rounds

Materials and Documents

IAAC Information Flyer [PDF]

Teacher Information Flyer [PDF]

Ambassador Activities Flyer [PDF]

Timetable and Deadlines [PDF]

Registration Costs Flyer [PDF]

Vision and Mission of IAAC [PDF]

IAAC Letterhead [PDF]

IAAC General Presentation [PDF]

IAAC Training Presentation [PDF]

IAAC Poster Color 1A [PDF]

IAAC Poster Color 1B [PDF]