Dear Sir/Madam,

My name is Carys Herbert and I am writing to you on behalf of the leader team of the International Astronomical Youth Camp (IAYC, www.iayc.org). This will be the IAYC’s 56th camp, it will take place in Germany from 17th July to 6th August 2022. The camp typically hosts around 55 participants, aged between 16-24 years old.

The IAYC’s main aims are to promote knowledge on astronomy and related sciences in a unique, international atmosphere. Participants work on a research project of their own choosing over the course of the three weeks, culminating in a final report. 

Celebrating diversity is deeply embedded in the culture of the camp. We are dedicated to making the camp accessible to all, and especially welcome applications from minorities in STEM. We also have grants available, for those who would love to attend but do not have the funds.

We believe that your students or club members would be interested in joining us in this adventure. Below are some more details about the camp, if you would be willing to circulate it with them. You can also find a PDF version of our poster here.

We hope that, thanks to you, some of your students or members will discover the magic of the IAYC this summer!

If this is not the appropriate email address we should contact for our purposes, it would be very kind of you if you could forward the message on to the correct address, including us in the email for our records. If you wish to be removed from our records entirely for whatever reason, please reply to this email and we will remove you.

With kindest regards,
Carys Herbert

International Astronomical Youth Camp: 17th July – 6th August 2022 in Eichsfelder Hütte, Germany

Imagine spending three weeks of your summer in the beautiful countryside – and with access to some of the darkest skies – working with other young people from all over the world on an astronomical project of your choice. The International Astronomical Youth Camp (IAYC) is a summer research camp aiming to promote knowledge on astronomy and related sciences in a unique international atmosphere. Celebrating diversity is deeply embedded in the culture of the camp – we are dedicated to making the camp accessible to all, and we especially welcome applications from minorities in STEM. 

Each year the IAYC takes place in a different remote location, and it will be in beautiful Germany this year. The IAYC is different from most astronomy camps for two reasons: (1) it has a strong international character and (2) you will design and carry out your own small research project. You will not just accept facts, but you will discover them for yourself. We are proud of the incredible variety of projects that have been carried out during the camp over the past 50 years, which include building rockets and rovers; constructing radio telescopes; astrophotography; cultural astronomy; computer programming and machine learning; exoplanets; stellar evolution; cosmology; and so much more. We have a diverse network of previous IAYCers, who have all gone on to fulfil a diverse range of roles in science and beyond.

By night you will have access to a number of different telescopes, whether you are a complete beginner or a savvy expert. By afternoon (the morning is for sleeping), you will explore astronomy-related projects in one of seven working groups. The groups are led by young scientists and focus on a specific topic related to space and astronomy. There is something for everyone, from the complete beginner to the ambitious student. This year the working groups are:

EXPANSE - EXPloring AstroNomy for Sustainable dEvelopment
LAME - Local Atmospheric Muons Experiment
MESSY - Modelling Energy Systems SustainablY on exoplanets
ODIN - Observing Distant Interstellar pheNomena
SHINY - Stellar birtH and evolutIoN, Yay!
SUS - SoUnds of the Stars
T-REX - Training Robots to EXplore

As well as the astronomical programme, there are many non-astronomical activities such as group games; sporting events; cultural, singing and poetry evenings; hiking tours and an excursion.

Anyone from 16 to 24 years old and able to communicate in English (your English doesn't have to be perfect!) may participate in the IAYC 2022. The fee for accommodation, full board and the whole programme, including the excursion, is 870 EUR and the application deadline is 31st March 2022. We also have grants available, for those who would love to attend but do not have the funds.

For more details, application and grant forms, outlines of projects and pictures from previous camps please go to https://www.iayc.org/nextcamp/.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at Esta dirección de correo electrónico está siendo protegida contra los robots de spam. Necesita tener JavaScript habilitado para poder verlo..

Best wishes and clear skies,
The IAYC Leaderteam