📌About the Event

The 5th Indian National Junior Astronomy Olympiad (INJAO) 2026 is India’s national selection programme for choosing students to represent the country at the 5th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics for Juniors (IOAA-Jr.) 2026. It is organised by the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM), Ministry of Culture, Government of India, which is India’s authorised national representative for the Junior Astronomy Olympiad programme.

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ℹ️ Event Details

• Level: National-level astronomy and science Olympiad selection programme.
• Mode: Multi-stage; written examinations are conducted at designated centres, followed by an offline Orientation-cum-Selection Camp (OCSC).
• OCSC Venue: Birla Industrial & Technological Museum (BITM), Kolkata.
• Selection Stages: NSEJS → INJSO → OCSC → Pre-departure training → IOAA-Jr. 2026

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📅 Important Dates

• IOAA-Jr. 2026: November 1 – 8, 2026,

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🎯 Eligibility & Rules

• Eligibilty:
• Students must have been in Class 8, 9 or 10 as of November 30, 2025.
• Eligible students must have been born between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2012, both dates inclusive.
• The first qualifying stage is the National Standard Examination in Junior Science (NSEJS) conducted by IAPT.
• Top NSEJS performers progress to the Indian National Junior Science Olympiad (INJSO).
• During INO registration, candidates interested in Astronomy-Junior must indicate their preference for the programme.
• Selection for Astronomy-Junior OCSC is based on INJSO 2026 performance.
• The 2026 Astronomy-Junior OCSC qualifying cutoff published by NCSM was 62 marks, with 25 qualifying roll numbers listed.

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🏆 Benefits for the Participants

• Selected students get the opportunity to join the Indian team for IOAA-Jr. 2026 in Thailand.
• OCSC participants receive specialised training in astronomy, astrophysics, problem-solving and observational astronomy.
• Finalists receive an opportunity to compete for international medals at IOAA-Jr. 2026.
• The programme is primarily an academic Olympiad and national-team selection programme, rather than a cash-prize competition.