Astronomy Olympiad – Institute of Physics Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad Competition (Gr. 10-13) - 2024
Sri Lankan Junior Astronomy Olympiad Competition (Gr. 6-9) - 2024

The 16^th Sri Lankan Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad and the 12^th Sri Lankan Junior Astronomy Olympiad are organized by the Institute of Physics, Sri Lanka in collaboration with the Department of Physics, the University of Colombo in association with the Sri Lanka Astronomy Olympiad Association. The competitions will be held on Saturday 14^th September 2024.

The school children can participate in these competitions in any of the mediums Sinhala, Tamil, or English. Students will be able to participate in both Olympiads at the Universities of Colombo, Ruhuna, Rajarata (Mihintale), Jaffna, and the Open University Centers at Kandy (Polgolla) and Batticaloa. For the convenience of the students, arrangements have been made to hold competitions of SLAAO from 11.00 a.m. – 1.00 p.m. and SLJAO from 11.00 a.m. – 12.30 p.m.

Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals, and Certificates of Merit will be presented to the winning students at the national level in a ceremony to be held at the Faculty of Science premises of the University of Colombo. In addition, students who have won Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals in the above two Olympiads will have the opportunity to represent the national team/teams in the International Astronomy Olympiads due in 2025 (participation will be decided based on the situation of the country). For this purpose, a maximum of five students with the highest marks obtained at a second examination conducted for medal winners will be selected.

Registration deadline is 9^th September 2024

Application: Sri Lankan Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad (SLAAO) – 2024

Application: Sri Lankan Junior Astronomy Olympiad (SLJAO) – 2024

Instructions

Important!

Route map for Kandy & Batticaloa

International OAA Competitions:

The purpose of IOAA is to popularize Astronomy and Astrophysics, and to attract bright high school students all over the world to Science and especially towards Astronomy and Astrophysics. The Institute of Physics Sri Lanka in collaboration with the Department of Physics, University of Colombo and Ministry of Education has made arrangements to hold national competitions, related to international events annually.

Those who sat for the 1st Sri Lankan Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (SLOAA) held in 2007 has won 10 national awards (2 Gold, 3 Silver and 5 Bronze medals) presented by the National Science Foundation at a ceremony held in the BMICH. Further more, five students excelled at the 1st national competition represented Sri Lanka at the 1st International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics held in Thailand in 2007. Three honorable mentions were won by the Sri Lankan students in that event with Sri Lankan team recognized as the 13th best team. Similarly students selected from subsequent SLOAAs represented Sri Lanka at the 2nd IOAA held in Bandung, Indonesia in 2008 and 3rd IOAA held in Tehran, Iran in 2009, and had won several international awards.

Participation at IOAA Competitions:

Those who wish to participate in future IOAA competitions must inform the Institute of Physics once advertised (generally in January of each year) and register themselves by sending the application form together with the prescribed examination fee. Application forms can be downloaded from the link given above. The examination will be held island-wide in 4 centers at the Universities of Colombo, Peradeniya, Ruhuna, and Jaffna.

Those who do well in the national competition will be given medals and certificates. Maximum of five students will be selected to participate at the IOAA. Those selected students will be trained extensively before the departure. To participate in the International Olympiad, the age of the contestants must not exceed twenty (20) years on August 1st. There is no age limit to participate in national competitions.