Outreach

The call for the XIV National Astronomy Olympiad is still open

Santa María Tonantzintla, Puebla, April 18, 2023. Next April 25 is the deadline to register for the fourteenth edition of the National Astronomy Olympiad, which includes two categories: secondary and high school.

“We invite students from all over the country to participate and we also extend the invitation to teachers so that they make their students aware of the call. We want more and more students who have an interest in science and in particular in Astronomy to participate. For 21 years the National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics (INAOE) has held the Astronomy Olympics and we are pleased that many ex-Olympians have studied astronomy, some have even completed their doctorates. This year we are organizing the Olympics together with the Autonomous University of Sinaloa (UAS), through the Faculty of Earth and Space Sciences, the institution that will host it. It is important to mention that the UAS has a Bachelor's Degree in Astronomy among its programs and it is an option that students from all over the country can consider”, says Dr. Eduardo Mendoza Torres, INAOE researcher and one of the organizers of the Olympics.
The winners of the National Astronomy Olympiad can be part of the Mexican delegation that participates in the Latin American Astronomy and Astronautics Olympiad, which will take place this year in Panama.

Dr. Eduardo Mendoza Torres emphasizes that one of the objectives of the Olympiad is to motivate students to choose a postgraduate degree in Astronomy or related areas. Another objective is that students of secondary and upper secondary education acquire interest in subjects such as Physics and Mathematics from their application in Astronomy.

“Precisely, one of the motivations for holding the Olympics is that, from an early academic age, students venture into solving exercises in a formal way, identifying themselves how to apply Mathematics tools and other areas to know parameters of celestial objects. that since childhood we are very curious. In addition to the fact that activities such as the Olympics help students maintain and even reinforce their interest and curiosity for various natural phenomena, they can also be a window in which the participants are identified for their commitment and discipline. Participation in the Olympiad has been a factor for some former Olympians to have received scholarships from various universities to study a career and some have received various recognitions such as the National Youth Award, the State Youth Award and medals in international Olympics. . One of them was even invited to the opening ceremony of the International Year of Astronomy in Paris in 2009”, he adds.

For her part, Dr. Giannina Dalle Mese, a researcher at the UAS Faculty of Earth and Space Sciences and who is in charge of the organization this year, reports that secondary school students who are not older than 16 years and high school or high school students not older than 18 years.
She adds that the material to prepare can be consulted on the Olympiad page: "We invite the boys to review the call and to prepare." We also remind teachers that they can pass the information on to their students. Likewise, she notifies that April 25 is the deadline to register online for the Olympiad, since the online tests will be on April 26 for the secondary category, and on April 27 for the high school category. Finally, she points out that the students who are selected in the online tests must appear at the UAS from June 5 to 9 for the face-to-face stage of the Olympiad.
Those interested in participating in the Olympics can register on the page https://facite.uas.edu.mx/onam/index.html?fbclid=IwAR1Fnzjjz-_Cu5rXStiC31wVLuxtUkREvzrfZdU6tujW73nL7D_wxP3zs7I