A decade and more at the IOAA
Bangladeshi students have taken part in the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics since 2007 — building, year on year, the experience and community that BDOAA now organises into a national programme.
Outreach · BDOAA
Bangladesh Olympiad on Astronomy & Astrophysics
Finding, training and sending the country's brightest young astronomers to the world stage — the national olympiad pipeline that CASSA champions.
About
A non-profit with a national mission
BDOAA exists to popularise astronomy across Bangladesh — and to find, train and send the country's most talented young astronomers to international competition. It is run largely by olympiad alumni: past national and international competitors, many of whom have gone on to study astronomy and the sciences and now give their time back to the next generation.
On 8 February 2018, the Bangladesh Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics Committee (BDOAAC) was recognised — with the endorsement of the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics — as the national authority for selecting Bangladesh's olympiad team. CASSA supports the olympiad as part of its outreach mission; CASSA Director Khan Muhammad Bin Asad is among those who mentor and back the programme.
2018 Recognised as the national olympiad body
10 Regional rounds in year one
1000+ Students in the first olympiad
6 Medals & mentions at GeCAA 2020
The pipeline
From a regional classroom to the international stage
How it works
Four stages to the world stage
- 01
Regional rounds
It starts across the country. Thousands of school and college students sit the first papers in regional centres — the widest net BDOAA casts each year. In its first olympiad alone, ten regional competitions drew around a thousand young enthusiasts.
- 02
National round
The top scorers converge for the national olympiad. In the inaugural edition, 120 finalists competed at Jahangirnagar University in Dhaka, sitting theory, data-analysis and observation papers modelled on the international format.
- 03
Selection camp
An intensive training camp narrows the field. Promising students are coached hard in celestial mechanics, astrophysics, sky observation and data analysis until the strongest few emerge.
- 04
The national team
Five contestants and two team leaders are chosen to represent Bangladesh on the world stage — at the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) and its global online sibling, GeCAA.
On the world stage
Bangladesh among the stars
A remarkable debut
BDOAA's first full team — five contestants and two leaders — competed at the 12th IOAA in Beijing, China. Four contestants each scored above 40%, and one earned an honourable mention: a striking result for a first national outing.
Bangladesh's first olympiad medals in astronomy
At the Global e-Competition on Astronomy and Astrophysics, a BDOAA-selected team won the country's first medals in the field — two silver, three bronze and one honourable mention, plus a first-place Best Group award. Led by Fahim Rajit Hossain, Md Mahmudunnabi and Arnab Chowdhury, it stands as Bangladesh's best success in astronomy to date.
Registration, syllabus, past papers and the full archive of Bangladesh's olympiad journey live on the official BDOAA site.