The IAU and the International Visegrad Fund are today launching a new programme to promote the mobility of BSc and MSc astronomy students in the four Visegrad Group countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, the Republic of Poland and the Slovak Republic.

These new IAU–International Visegrad Fund Mobility Awards aim to build cross-border cooperation, build research capacity in institutions and raise the regional and global recognition of the astronomy community.

Participating students will have the opportunity to develop their research skills and strengthen their career opportunities in astronomy and STEM-related fields. The scheme will support two cohorts of 12 students (a total of 24 students, six from each participating country) to each undertake a three-month summer research programme at a partner institution during 2023 and 2024.

The four partner institutions are:

1. Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences/Csillagászati és Földtudományi Kutatóközpont
2. Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń/Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu
3. Comenius University in Bratislava/Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave
4. Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences/Astronomický ústav Akademie věd České republiky

The International Visegrad Fund is an international donor organisation established by the governments of the Visegrad Group countries (V4, the Czech Republic, Hungary, the Republic of Poland and the Slovak Republic). Its mission is to advance sustainable cooperation among people in the V4 region, as well as between the V4 region and other countries.

More information

The IAU is the international astronomical organisation that brings together more than 12 000 active professional astronomers from more than 100 countries worldwide. Its mission is to promote and safeguard astronomy in all its aspects, including research, communication, education and development, through international cooperation. The IAU also serves as the internationally recognised authority for assigning designations to celestial bodies and the surface features on them. Founded in 1919, the IAU is the world's largest professional body for astronomers.

The International Visegrad Fund is an international donor organisation established by the governments of the Visegrad Group countries (V4, the Czech Republic, Hungary, the Republic of Poland and the Slovak Republic). Its aim is to support closer understanding and cooperation among people in the V4 region, as well as between the V4 region and other countries and regions, particularly in the non-EU neighbourhood of the Eastern Partnership countries and in the Western Balkans. The fund fosters the development of civil society by financing joint grant projects and by awarding university scholarships and artist residencies. The fund’s annual budget of €8 million consists of equal contributions by the V4 governments.

Links

• IAU–International Visegrad Fund Mobility Awards

Contacts

Kateryna FrantsevaIAU 
Email: frantseva@strw.leidenuniv.nl 

Lars Lindberg Christensen
IAU Director of Communications
Cell: +1 520 461 0433/+49 173 38 72 621
Email: lars.christensen@noirlab.edu