Outreach

CASSA Outreach is dedicated to the popularization of astronomy, astrophysics, and space science—not in the sense of making them more lucrative or merely well-known, but in the deeper sense of building meaningful connections between science and people. While our teaching and research are not part of outreach, they support and enrich it in many important ways.

CASSA Outreach is supervised by professional astronomers, and managed by a Faculty Coordinator who serves as the Point of Contact (POC) for two Outreach Ambassadors (IUB students on duty)—one female and one male.

At present, CASSA Outreach runs two major outreach programs: the Bangladesh Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (BDOAA) and Durbin, as described below.

Bangladesh Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (BDOAA)

BDOAA is an educational outreach program of CASSA, IUB. The BDOAA Office is located at the CASSA Office, Main Academic Building Rooftop, Independent University, Bangladesh, Plot 16, Aftabuddin Ahmed Road, Block B, Bashundhara RA, Dhaka, Bangladesh. BDOAA is governed by three committees: the Executive Committee (EC), the Academic Committee (AC), and the Organizing Committee (OC). The EC consists of two CASSA faculty members serving as President and General Secretary. The AC and OC are composed entirely of undergraduate and graduate students, and young graduate professionals.

The Outreach Ambassador of CASSA (an undergraduate student of IUB) is responsible for maintaining regular communication between the EC faculty and the AC/OC student members. CASSA endorses BDOAA in carrying out three types of activities:

Olympiad – Regional rounds are to be organized in different parts of Bangladesh. Top performers from the regional rounds will advance to the national round, and the national K-12 winners will represent Bangladesh at the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) and the IOAA Junior.
K-12 Workshop – Designed for K-12 students conducted by university students.
K-12 Conference – Featuring talks and poster sessions presented by and for K-12 students.

Durbin – Citizens of Distant Worlds

DurBiN (Dur Bishwer Nagorik) is a national astronomy outreach program of CASSA. It uses astronomy for education, development, and the public, inspired by the principle that the universe belongs to everyone and everyone belongs to the universe. The program was founded by Lamiya Mowla, PhD, with major funding support from the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Canada.

While CASSA primarily focuses on academic astronomy—through peer-reviewed research and research-intensive university education—Durbin brings together three non-academic domains of astronomy under one umbrella, modeled after the three global initiatives (ODE: outreach, development, education) of the International Astronomical Union (IAU):

Outreach – Bringing astronomy into everyday life as a hobby, cultural practice, or form of inspiration through public events, stargazing sessions, exhibitions, writing, and media outreach.
Development – Using astronomy to promote social development, such as cultural astronomy projects exploring humanity’s historical connection to the sky, dark-sky advocacy, and outreach to underprivileged communities.
Education – Expanding astronomy education beyond university curricula to schools, colleges, madrasas, and universities through public workshops and learning activities.