What is the IOAA?
The International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics is an annual competition for high school students on the topics of astronomy and astrophysics. Although a bit younger (it was established in 2007), it is very similar in spirit to well-known competitions such as the International Physics Olympiad or the International Mathematics Olympiad.
In 2026, 64 countries took part in this olympiad, totaling more than 300 students and more than 100 official delegation members. Each country is allowed to send a team of up to 5 students and 2 team leaders.
My story
I myself was part of the very first German team in 2019. After winning all three national selection rounds, I secured a silver medal at the IOAA in Keszthely (Hungary), finishing in the top 10% of all students. In the theory exam, which makes up half of all available points, I was even among the best 10. Unfortunately, I narrowly missed the gold medal ranks because the observational rounds did not go well for me, which may be one of the reasons why I decided to stick to theory in my own research.
After my own great experience as a student participating in IOAA, I decided to join Ivan Kokhanovskyi (who initiated the German participation in 2019) in organizing the national selection rounds. Since then, I have also accompanied the German team as a team leader at all editions of IOAA from 2020 to 2026.
The German team
Germany has participated in IOAA since 2019. The 19th IOAA in Hanoi, Vietnam, has just come to an end: the German team returns home with one gold and three silver medals.
Over the years, we have professionalized the selection competition as well as the preparation and training of the team, and we even founded a non-profit organization called Astronomie-Olympiaden e.V. which runs the national olympiad. There, I currently serve as chairman.
| Year | Location | Gold | Silver | Bronze | HM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Hanoi, Vietnam | 1 | 3 | – | – |
| 2025 | Mumbai, India | 1 | 2 | 2 | – |
| 2024 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | – | 2 | 3 | – |
| 2023 | Chorzów, Poland | – | 2 | 3 | – |
| 2022 | Kutaisi, Georgia | 1 | 3 | 1 | – |
| 2021 | Online (Colombia) | – | – | 3 | 2 |
| 2020* | GeCAA, online (Estonia) | – | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 2019 | Keszthely, Hungary | – | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Medals of the German team. HM: Honourable Mention. *In 2020 no IOAA took place; an online competition (GeCAA) was held instead.
Get involved
The selection competition is open to students at German schools who are interested in physics and astronomy. If you would like to take part, have a look at our website ioaa-germany.de, where the current rules, dates and learning materials can be found.