About the Norwegian Astronomy Olympiad

Objectives

The main goal of IOAA is to promote the growing interest in astronomy and related subjects, through the general education of young people, and enhancing the development of international contacts among different countries in promoting astronomy and astrophysics in schools.

Through the event like IOAA, we aim at stimulating high school students to deepen and feed their "passion" for astronomy by studying astronomy and astrophysics at the university level.

Great emphasis is placed on the value of professional and social interaction with peers from many countries.

Organisation

The IOAA competition was established in 2007, when 21 countries joined. Now there are more than 40 countries participating, and Norway has never been with ... before 2019!

Those who will represent Norway are selected through several national selection rounds.

• Round 1: Standardized multiple-choice assignments that are completed in school during the autumn semester. The syllabus consists of Physics 1 plus momentum and energy conservation from Physics 2.
• Round 2: Multiple choice tasks and short answer tasks that are completed in school. The syllabus consists of Physics 1 plus momentum and energy conservation and gravity from Physics 2., and some assignments taken from previous international finals.
• Final week: The best students from round 2 are invited to participate in an intensive final week at the University of Oslo. The week ends with a final. The winners will be offered to participate in the International Olympiad in Astronomy and Astrophysics later that year.
• NB: Participating students must be under 20 years of age (as of June 30, the same year as the International Olympiad is held).

Important with Norwegian participation

The Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics and the Rosseland Centre for Solar Physics look at competitions, training stays at the university and of course the international Olympiad itself, which is a great way to stimulate interest in the sciences.

Students solve:

• theoretical assignments
• performs data analysis
• participates in problem solving using observational astronomy, both individually and in groups under controlled and timed conditions over a period of 10 days.

Who designs the national exams?

The Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics collaborates with:

• Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
• National Center for Space-Related Education (NAROM)
• Norwegian Astronomical Society (NAS)
• teachers in high school

in designing the national exams, making the selection of students as well as courses and training the students at the University of Oslo. The top candidates will represent Norway at the International Olympiad.

IOAA - Norwegian committee