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The IAU Office of Astronomy for Education is the International Astronomical Union’s office dedicated to astronomy for primary and secondary education.

OAE Objectives


Professionalize astronomy education icon

Professionalize astronomy education

Help astronomers, astronomy educators and teachers world-wide to gain the skills they need in order to communicate about astronomy in primary and secondary schools in a professional and effective manner.

We have regular calls for grants for teacher training programs and are running a series of OAE Reviews which serve as best practice guides for important topics in astronomy education. We also host an annual virtual conference, the Shaw-IAU workshops on astronomy for education

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Provide access to good resources

Make available excellent and effective resources for teaching about astronomical topics, internationally, under open licenses, and easy-to-find.

You can search our resources, browse resources by category, view our image gallery or look at our multilingual glossary.

Promote astronomy icon

Promote astronomy in curricula

Support efforts to include more astronomy in national or regional curricula.

View our survey on the status of astronomy in curricula worldwide.




OAE Networking icon

OAE Networking

Create, maintain and grow a network of associates in support of the OAE mission.

We have a network of 312 National Astronomy Education Coordinators (NAECs) from 109 countries and territories, including the NAEC team for The United States of America (USA).

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Spread the news

Inform all relevant stakeholders and communities about OAE activities, and about ways of collaborating with us.

Sign up for the OAE mailing list or follow us on social media.


Collaborate with us

Interested in working with the OAE Office of Astronomy for Education? Then get in touch.

Latest OAE News

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6th Shaw-IAU Workshop Wrap up!

The fully virtual 6th Shaw-IAU Workshop took place 12 - 15 November 2024. The Shaw-IAU workshops focus on astronomy education for primary and secondary schools, covering topics that teachers, practitioners and NAECs find useful for their contexts.....

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Sabir: students at the center of learning

A new set of activities produced in co-design in the Mediterranean area by the OAE Italy Center are in publication in AstroEDU. Let's talk about these innovative activities and about Sabir, the project behind them, with Stefano Sandrelli.

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Mediterranean Regional SHAW-IAU Workshop on ASTronomy for EDucation (MASTED)

The Mediterranean Regional SHAW-IAU Workshop on ASTronomy for EDucation (MASTED) will be held between 16 – 20 October 2024 in person at Istanbul Kultur University in Istanbul, Türkiye

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OAE Mailing List

If you want to stay up to date with the activities of the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education, and receive our announcements about projects, opportunities for collaboration, and events, please subscribe to our mailing list.

More information

Find out more about the IAU OAE.

OAE Main Office

Find out more about the OAE's Main Office in Heidelberg.
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Centers and Nodes

Find out more about the OAE's network of locations at partner institutions.
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Open Positions

Find out how to join our team!
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NAEC teams

Find out more about our National Astronomy Education Coordinators (NAECs).
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Steering Committee

Meet our steering committee – the supervisory body of the OAE.
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