The IAU’s Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD) is pleased to announce the results of its latest call for proposals. 11 new projects around the world will receive a total of €69 500 in 2025, and two multi-year projects will receive €21 000 for their second and third year of funding.
The new projects will target countries in Asia, Europe, South America, Africa, Australia, North America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East. They include mobile observatory STEM programmes in Malaysia and India; a multi-national collaborative radio astronomy project connecting students in China, Pakistan and Greece; personal and professional skills development projects for vulnerable children in Mexico and South Africa; a cultural astronomy experience for Aboriginal youth in Australia; astrotourism and other revenue-generating projects in Saint Lucia, Mexico and India; skills development workshops in Iran, and more.
Additionally, OAD partner, the Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy Project (DARA), will fund projects in Kenya and Botswana, through the UK's Science and Technologies Facilities Council, to stimulate the local economy through astrotourism.
Many of the new projects will focus on the OAD’s three flagship areas: astrotourism for socioeconomic development; astronomy to improve mental health; and the application of astronomy knowledge and skills for sustainable development.
Astrotourism is a growing niche in the eco-tourism and experiential tourism sector. Projects under this flagship seek to address the deep socioeconomic challenges in less developed regions by leveraging their unfettered access to dark skies. Cheyenne Polius, OAD project lead and founder of LUNAA Journeys, which will run a stargazing training programme in St Lucia, hopes that their project “will give unemployed youth in St Lucia a new career avenue to explore.” Cheyenne believes the IAU funds are integral to getting the resources and equipment to train stargazing tour guides and kick off a longer-term mission to use astrotourism as a tool for socioeconomic development in St Lucia.
Astronomy is also being applied as a catalyst to resolve the growing mental health crisis globally. Anaely Pacheco Blanco, a science communicator and educator in Mexico, will lead the “El Universo para ti - Astronomía para la resiliencia” (“Astronomy for resilience”) project. "We wish to achieve an improvement not only in STEM-related skills, but also socioemotional skills and mental health status in children and youth living in social care institutions in Puebla, Mexico by using astronomy related activities,” said Anaely.
Under the third flagship area of sustainable development, projects such as RADIIO will inspire a new generation of scientifically literate students and educators, addressing societal challenges like stereotypes, pseudoscience, and educational inequities. Dr. Eleni Vardoulaki, an astrophysicist and science communicator from Greece, will work with counterparts in China and Pakistan. “The IAU funds are a valuable source of support for international projects like RADIIO, enabling the procurement of materials for radio antennas, covering travel costs for school visits, and creating accessible educational resources, to ensure the programme's inclusive and far-reaching impact.”
Other projects will target audiences in under-resourced and underserved locations. Dr. Tejpreet Kaur from IIT Kanpur, India, declared: “The sky is open to all, and every child has the right to explore its wonders. With the support of IAU-OAD, we aim to bring the knowledge of astronomy to children with limited resources in Uttar Pradesh, India, inspiring curiosity and fostering a lifelong love for science among young minds.”
The IAU OAD’s multi-year grants have created a sustained impact on participants’ lives. The project EMEJA in Kenya, for instance, addresses the challenge of high dropouts among young girls in rural schools. Over the last few years, with the OAD's support, the project reached nearly 20 000 schoolgirls, their parents, and local communities. It equipped laboratories in schools, helped to create computer labs, and kept hundreds of girls in school through scholarships and other programmes. According to Dr. Ann Njeri, astrophysicist and project leader for EMEJA, “this year, we aim to include schoolboys, addressing their unique set of socioeconomic challenges that are negatively impacting their education, recognising that a balanced future requires empowered women and equally empowered men.”
Since 2012, the IAU has granted close to €1.4 million to more than 200 projects, impacting thousands of lives in more than 100 countries. Grants are offered through an annual call for proposals that is open to anyone from anywhere in the world. In 2024, the OAD received 119 applications at stage 1, from which 45 were selected for stage 2. These 45 teams worked closely with the OAD to improve the impact potential of their project. An independent review panel, comprising experts from astronomy and development fields, evaluated the applications and made the final selections, which were later approved by the OAD Steering Committee.
The next call is expected to be announced in April 2025.
List of projects funded, in alphabetical order:
- Astro-STEM Workshop, Kenya
- Australia’s Cultural Night Sky: Culture, Creativity and Community at Lake Ballard, Western Australia, Australia
- Closer to the sky: co-creating astronomical knowledge in the favela complex of Cantagalo Pavão Pavãozinho (PPG) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- CSTERC Women AstroPreneurs’ Collective, India
- El Universo para ti – Astronomía para la resiliencia (The Universe for you – Astronomy for resilience), Mexico
- Elimisha Msichana Elimisha Jamii na Astronomia (Educate a Girl Educate the entire Community with Astronomy), Kenya and Uganda.
- Look Up now and reconnect (LuNaR): Astrotourism for Economic, Cultural and Environmental development in Coahuila & Campeche, Mexico
- LUNAA Journeys Stargazing Training Programme, Saint Lucia
- Radio Astronomy for Development, Intercultural Innovation, and Outreach: A modern `Silk Road’ via radio astronomy education, China, Pakistan, Greece
- Reviving and Integrating Solar Energy in the Zagros region, Iran
- Rite of Passage: Connection through Astronomy, South Africa
- Sparking STEM Interest through Mobile Observatory in Malaysia, Malaysia
- Starlight Pathways: Bringing Astronomy to Every Child, India
- Anga Explorers for Development (funded by Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy Project (DARA) through the UK’s Science and Technologies Facilities Council), Kenya
- AstroGuides: Transforming Tours with Astrotourism (funded by Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy Project (DARA) through the UK’s Science and Technologies Facilities Council), Botswana
The OAD has also compiled a list of recommended proposals that were approved by the reviewers but could not be funded. You can browse through the Recommended list and contact us for more details or to support one or more projects. The OAD welcomes funding partners who could support those projects that we are unable to fund.
More information
The IAU is the international astronomical organisation that brings together about 13,000 distinguished astronomers from around the world. Its mission is to promote and safeguard the science of astronomy in all its aspects, including research, communication, education and development, through international cooperation. The IAU also serves as the internationally recognised authority for assigning designations to celestial bodies and the surface features on them. Founded in 1919, the IAU is the world’s largest professional body for astronomers.
The IAU established the Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD) in partnership with the South African National Research Foundation (NRF), and supported by the South African Department of Science and Innovation. The OAD, located at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in Cape Town, South Africa, aims to help further the use of astronomy, including its practitioners, skills and infrastructures, as a tool for development.
Links
Contacts
Ramasamy Venugopal
IAU Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD)
Email: rv@astro4dev.org
Lina Canas
IAU Membership Coordinator
Email: lina.canas@iau.org / iaupressoffice@iau.org
Laura Hiscott
IAU Press Office Editor
Email: iaupressoffice@iau.org