Students with a Passion for Astronomy

The Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand (RASNZ) offers 10 to 15 secondary students scholarships to enable them to attend the RASNZ annual astronomy conference.

The conference will take place this year in Whangarei, Friday 3rd June (afternoon) to Sunday 5th June (about 4pm) – provided Covid-19 does not affect our plans.

NZ residents currently attending a NZ secondary school in Y13, 12 or 11 may apply.

The scholarships comprise free registration for the conference (value $190), free travel from their home to Whangarei*, free backpacker accommodation in Whangarei for the nights of 3 and 4 June*, and a free banquet ticket for the conference banquet on Saturday 4 June (value $65).

*Accommodation and travel only if required for non-Whangarei residents

To be considered, students should email a short statement of no more than 300 words explaining why they would like to attend the conference and why they are interested in astronomy.

This statement should be sent to the RASNZ Immediate-Past President, Dr Nicholas Rattenbury (n.rattenbury@auckland.ac.nz) by 5pm, Monday 11th April 2022. The email subject line must include "SWAPA 2022".

Include your name, gender, age, school, year of study at school in 2022, city, email address, telephone contact and science teacher’s name, phone and email.

For more detail see the RASNZ SWAPA webpage https://rasnzconference.org.nz/about-us/swapa/