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June 21, 2025 12:58 pm

IISER Mohali Hosts Astronomy Olympiad Orientation-Cum-Selection Camp (OCSC) 2025

THE AMAN SANDESH TIMES

Chandigarh :

The Orientation-Cum-Selection Camp (OCSC) 2025 for the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) is currently being held at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Mohali. The camp is part of the process to select India’s representative team for IOAA 2025.

Usually conducted by the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE-TIFR), Mumbai, the camp has been entrusted to IISER Mohali this year, as HBCSE is itself hosting IOAA 2025.

The objective of the camp is to train and evaluate the country’s top-performing students in the fields of astronomy and astrophysics. The selected students are being trained through lectures, tutorials, telescope setup and handling sessions, and night sky observations.

From around 500 participants who appeared in the Indian National Astronomy Olympiad (INAO), 54 students were shortlisted for OCSC, with 37 students ultimately participating this year. These participants include top performers from Group A (Class 12) and Group B (Classes 10 and 11).

A team of astronomers from Central University of Haryana (Mahendragarh), Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology (Patiala), IIT Kanpur, Ashoka University (Sonipat), Central University of Himachal Pradesh (Shahpur), and IISER Mohali are actively involved in organizing the camp. Expert faculty from these institutions, along with scientists from Raman Research Institute and Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru, are conducting training sessions.

The camp will conclude with the announcement of India’s five-member representative team for IOAA 2025 on June 11, 2025, at 9:30 AM in Lecture Hall Complex, LH6, IISER Mohali. The ceremony will feature a keynote address by Prof. Deepankar Bhattacharya from Ashoka University, Sonipat. The Indian Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT) will also award certificates and medals to participants, and outstanding performers of the camp will be recognized.

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