12th Singapore Astronomy Olympiad 2025

The Singapore Astronomy Olympiad (SAO) is a national competition on Astronomy and Astrophysics organised with the intent to select candidates to represent Singapore in the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA).

Details regarding the 12th SAO:

Round 1 (Open to all students under 20) – Computerised Quiz

Date: 10 March 2025, Monday
Time: 16:00 – 18:00
Venue: Administered in your school, or at a test centre

Round 2 (By invitation only)
Date: 15 March 2025, Saturday
Time: 09:00 – 14:00
Venue: Raffles Institution

Participation in the SAO is open to students who meet the following criteria: they must be under 20 years of age as of 1 July, they must be Singaporean or attend a full-time programme at a school in Singapore, and they must not have exceeded Grade 12 or its equivalent.

Preparatory Resources
A variety of resources are available to students who wish to better prepare for the SAO:

•Recordings and Materials from SAO Training Programme 2024: Access to the recordings and materials from the SAO Training Programme 2024, conducted by former IOAA medallists and covering several topics tested in the SAO and IOAA, can be purchased for SGD $10 per registrant at https://tinyurl.com/SAORecordings2024
•Free revision resources and past papers: Additional revision resources such as past papers can be found on the Astronomy.SG website and are available for free.
•Free Q&A session: A free Q&A session for which participants can send in their questions will be held closer to the dates of SAO 2025. More details will be provided in a follow-up email.

Leavitt Lectures
The IOAA has recently placed focus on increasing inclusivity in national team selections. In light of this, Astronomy.SG will be introducing the Leavitt Lectures, which are a series of online preparatory lectures aimed at female participants. The lectures are named after Henrietta Swan Leavitt, a key female figure in Astronomy who discovered a way to determine distances to other galaxies.

These online lectures will be held weekly on Sundays starting from 15 December 2024, with additional sessions during the December school holiday period. Female students keen to participate in SAO 2025 can register their interest for the Leavitt Lectures at https://tinyurl.com/leavitt-lectures.

Registration for SAO 2025
The registration link for SAO 2025 will be sent out in the first half of January 2025. Please keep a lookout for follow-up emails from Astronomy.SG!

IOAA 2024

Congratulations to Team Singapore for their excellent performance at the recently-concluded 17th IOAA at Vassouras, Brazil!

This year, Leng Kane Kiat, Eng Cheng Le, and Lim Cheng Ian from NUS High School of Mathematics and Science, and Hilary Chee and Teo Kai Wen from Raffles Institution represented Singapore at the 17th IOAA.

Under the mentorship of team leaders, Mdm Geraldine Tan and Mr Yuen Xiang Hao, and the coaches (Brendan Lim, Huang Zehan, Ting Jun Rui, Liu Hao, Lim Kia Yee, and Wang Ming Chuan), the team bagged 2 Gold and 3 Silver Medals at the 17th IOAA.

Photo credit: Mr Yuen Xiang Hao, NUS High School of Mathematics and Science