India secured the third position in the medal standings at the 15th International Olympiad in Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA). India held the third position along with Singapore with students winning three gold and two silver medals.
The 15th International Olympiad in Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) 2022 was held in Kutaisi, Georgia from 14 to 21 August 2022. The team was accompanied by two leaders: Prof. Sarita Vig (Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram), Prof. Ajit Mohan Srivastava (Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar) and two scientific observers: Dr Shriharsh Tendulkar (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai) and Mr. Tejas Shah (Fr. Agnel Multipurpose School & Jr. College, Navi Mumbai).
Dr Tendulkar was himself a gold medalist in the 2002 and 2003 International Astronomy Olympiads (overall in the latter). 209 students from 37 main and 6 guest teams participated in this year’s IOAA. In addition, 24 students from 6 countries participated in the online mode. This year’s edition was originally scheduled to take place in Kyiv, Ukraine; was moved to Kutaisi, Georgia in March 2022 due to the war in Ukraine.
In the medal standings, India was joint third with Singapore behind the official team of Iran (5 gold) and the visiting team (4 gold, 1 silver). A total of 28 gold, 38 silver and 55 bronze medals were awarded at this IOAA. Raghav Goyal won a special prize for the best solution to the most challenging theoretical question.
