The Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) invites and encourages anyone working in astronomy education together with their National Astronomy Education Coordinators (NAECs) to submit proposals for financial support of up to 2000 Euros for an astronomy teacher training and professional development workshop to be scheduled in 2026 or early 2027.
With the development of the OAE Astronomy Teacher Training Transparency Standards, we have expanded the opportunity for participating in the TTP call. Bearing in mind that the applicants and NAECs have different needs and resources, we will be accepting proposals in for these two options:
Option 1 is intended for those who have already secured funding elsewhere and would like to have their project reviewed and endorsed under the OAE TTP.
Option 2 is aimed at applicants who are seeking funding of up to €2,000 for their workshop, in line with the previous TTP program, there is limited funding from the OAE, making this option more competitive.
Both options require a full application to be submitted based on the OAE TTP guidelines. Collaboration with at least one local NAEC, one local teacher, and, where possible, a local astronomer is mandatory for both options. This team will work together to create and conduct a teacher training workshop tailored to their specific preferences, where teachers will be empowered with the astronomy knowledge and skills they could use in their classrooms.
We will have a proposal writing workshop for prospective TTP applicants at 1300UT on the 20th of April
Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 628 6712 6164
Passcode: 674349
Proposals will be evaluated on how clearly and thoroughly they address each standard. Transparency is key applicants should be explicit about their choices, rationales, and anticipated outcomes.
An important part of the IAU’s Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) mission is to support regional and local teacher training workshops that leverage astronomy for formal primary and secondary education. Therefore in 2022, the OAE developed the Teacher Training Program (TTP) to support the ideas and initiatives of the NAECs for teacher training and professional development workshops. In supporting this teacher training and development workshop, we hope it serves as proof of concept for the NAECs as well as the ministries in your countries, to carry out these workshops with local funding. To date, the OAE has supported 80+ teacher training programmes reaching over 2000 teachers globally.
The condition that the workshop is developed in collaboration with a NAEC team member and submitted by this NAEC team member is strict. Applications submitted by others will not be considered. If you are a teacher interested in running such a workshop, please contact a NAEC in your country (for example, a member of the NAEC team for The United States of America (USA)) to see if they wish to collaborate. The OAE currently has NAECs in over 120 countries or territories worldwide.
Special thanks to the OAE Centers Italy and India, for their continuous contributions.
Please note that the focus of the OAE is on teaching and learning at the school level (not university) and it is not outreach. Please see our sister offices OAO (Office of Astronomy for Outreach) and OAD (Office of Astronomy for Development) for support in other astronomy activities beyond the local school system.
The application deadline is the 30th of April 2026. We will notify you of the outcome in May 2026. You can find the online application form here here. A template application document is available here
All information and eligibility criteria as well as rules are listed in this text and the FAQ in this link. The FAQ also contains advice on how to fill out the application form, please read it thoroughly. Don’t hesitate to contact us at ttpatastro4edu.org if you have any questions.
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