At the ‘Astronomy Olympiad’ — Orientation-cum-Selection Camp (OCSC) held at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Mohali, 5 students had been chosen on Wednesday (June 11, 2025) to represent India at the 2025 International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA), scheduled to be held in Mumbai in August this yr.
The OCSC was aimed at offering intensive coaching to students shortlisted via national-level examinations and assessing their grasp of core ideas and sensible methods in astronomy and astrophysics.
Jasjeet Singh Bagla, Professor at the Department of Physical Sciences, IISER Mohali, stated a complete of 54 students had been chosen for the Astronomy OCSC from almost 500 candidates who appeared for the Indian National Astronomy Olympiad and ranked among the many high of their respective classes.
“Of these, 37 students from different parts of India participated in the OCSC. A team of five students was selected to represent the country in the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) 2025, which is to be held in Mumbai, India, in August 2025,” he stated in a press release.
The chosen students are Aarush Mishra, Sumant Gupta, Banibrata Majee, Panini, and Akshat Srivastava.
Prof. Bagla stated that Aarush Mishra was conferred the ‘C.L. Bhat Memorial Award’ for greatest efficiency at the camp, whereas Sumant Gupta acquired the award for greatest efficiency within the observational take a look at. Akshat Srivastava secured two awards — for greatest efficiency in principle and in knowledge evaluation.
The OCSC curriculum included lectures, tutorials, telescope setup and dealing with, in addition to sky commentary periods. “The Astronomy OCSC is usually organised by the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), a centre of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai. However, this year, as HBCSE is hosting the IOAA, the responsibility for selection and training of the Indian team was entrusted to IISER Mohali,” Prof. Bagla famous.
A crew of astronomers and school members from the Central University of Haryana, Mahendragarh; Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala; Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur; Ashoka University, Sonepat; Central University of Himachal Pradesh, Shahpur; and IISER Mohali collaborated to organise the camp.
“Sessions in the training programme were anchored by resource persons from these institutes, along with scientists from the Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru; Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru; National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar; and the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA),” he stated.
The camp additionally featured a particular lecture by Professor Dipankar Bhattacharya of Ashoka University, who delivered a chat on imaging throughout totally different wavebands in astronomy.
Published – June 11, 2025 05:57 pm IST
