IAU Affiliation
The IAU is composed of the following Members:
- NATIONAL MEMBERS: Organizations representing national professional astronomical communities, desiring to promote their participation in international astronomy and supporting the objectives of the Union, may adhere to the Union as National Members. Organizations desiring to join the Union as National Members while developing professional astronomy in the community they represent may do so on an Interim or Observer basis. They may later become National Members on a permanent basis. Information on the application procedure can be found here. More information can be found in the IAU Statutes, Bye-Laws and Working Rules. To view the distribution of Individual Members by National Member country you may do so on the Geographical and Gender Distribution of Individual Members page.
- INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS: Professional scientists whose research is directly relevant to some branch of astronomy are eligible for admission as Individual Members. Individual Members are, normally, admitted by the Executive Committee on the proposal of a National Member. Information on the qualification for membership and application procedure can be found here. Individual Members listed in the IAU directory have a valid, public email (so are considered as "voting members" in the IAU database), and are affiliated to at least one Division. A list of IAU Individual Members per Division, Commission and Working Group is available by selecting the desired IAU body ("Science" menu on the IAU home page, and "Scientific Body" and then: Division, Commissions, etc.), and clicking on "Division Members" (etc.). These lists are regularly updated by the Secretariat in the IAU database. A list of the IAU Individual Members per country can be found by first selecting the country in the National Member list above, clicking on the country, then on the "Total members" menu appearing at the top of the country page.
- JUNIOR MEMBERS: A junior scientist who has completed her or his PhD studies between 2019 and 2024 in some branch of astronomy and is in the initial phase of the career of a professional researcher in astronomy or a related field may be admitted to the Union by the
Executive Committee as Junior Member, for a period not exceeding 6 years. Information on the qualification for membership and application procedure can be found here. Members listed in the IAU directory have a valid, public email (so are considered as "voting members" in the IAU database), and are affiliated to at least one Division. Lists of Junior Members per country or scientific body can be located in the same way as described above for Individual Members.
- HONORARY MEMBERS: Individuals that have substantially contributed to the development of astronomical research in their country, who are not professional astronomers (see article III c. of the Working Rules) and do not qualify as Individual Member under the provision of art. III 4, may be proposed to become IAU Honorary Members.
- MEMBERS JOINED PER YEAR since 1994
- Here you will find a list of Deceased Members . This list is a work in progress. If you have information to add please send it to: iauinfos@iap.fr .
Gender Distribution in the IAU
These statistics refer to Active members. Please note also that these numbers do not include IAU members for whom we do not have a date of birth. For more detailed gender statistics click here .
| AGE RANGE |
Nº of Male+ |
Nº of Male |
Nº of Male/Neutral |
Nº of Neutral |
Nº of Female/Neutral |
Nº of Female |
Nº of Female+ |
Nº of Not defined |
Nº of Decline to answer |
| 25-30 |
0 |
14 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| 30-35 |
0 |
224 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
149 |
0 |
12 |
3 |
| 35-40 |
1 |
520 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
301 |
1 |
14 |
1 |
| 40-45 |
0 |
843 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
411 |
0 |
20 |
1 |
| 45-50 |
0 |
929 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
382 |
1 |
16 |
0 |
| 50-55 |
0 |
1020 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
311 |
0 |
10 |
2 |
| 55-60 |
1 |
1097 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
282 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
| 60-65 |
0 |
1056 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
222 |
0 |
10 |
0 |
| 65-70 |
0 |
920 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
180 |
0 |
6 |
1 |
| 70-75 |
1 |
825 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
154 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
| 75-80 |
0 |
788 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
108 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
| 80-85 |
0 |
640 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
83 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
| 85-90 |
0 |
285 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
33 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 90-95 |
0 |
90 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| 95-100 |
0 |
29 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| other |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
The IAU also has Associates:
- ASSOCIATES: The IAU status of "Associate" is offered by invitation exclusively to individuals who are not IAU members, but are actively involved in the work of the IAU, as members of a Working Group, a Commission, or a Division. The status is temporary and must be reconfirmed at the time of the General Assemblies. Associates are appointed by the Working Group, Commission, or Division with which they are working, according to the IAU Working Rules (Sect XII), and are listed on the IAU website as "Associates". The list of Associates is available here and is maintained by the Secretaries of the relevant Divisions in coordination with the IAU Secretariat.
(Updated in December, 2021)