Apply to Host a Shapley Visiting Lecture

Deadline: 31 October 2025 – please submit all materials by 11:59pm ET.

The Harlow Shapley Visiting Lectures Program brings professional astronomers to campuses and communities to share the excitement of astronomy and space science. We invite you to apply to host a Shapley Visiting Lecturer in 2026.

In this application, please describe how your organization can help advance the program’s goal of reaching diverse communities with limited access to science outreach. We encourage you to highlight the audiences you hope to engage, your outreach plans, and your hosting capabilities.

Eligibility requirements and further information can be found here: Hosting a Shapley Lecture

Host Site Information
Event Details

Additional Events you can offer.

At the heart of every Shapley visit is a public lecture open to the community. In addition, we ask event organizers to propose at least one additional community / student engagement activity. Please describe the primary format(s) of your proposed event. Examples of activities that can accompany a Shapley Lecture include:

  • Public star party or astronomy night
  • Career talk or Q&A session
  • Classroom visits (K–12 or college)
  • Teacher workshops
  • Planetarium presentations
  • Hands-on science activities
  • Others not listed here!
Describe the primary audience(s) you hope to reach. Priority will be given to proposals that demonstrate meaningful engagement with communities that are historically underrepresented in astronomy (for example: rural and/or working class communities, women/girls, ethnic minorities, and people with disabilities) who often don't imagine themselves in science careers or who believe that science is “not for them.”
If your organization is a school, please indicate type of school – e.g., community college, research university (R1/R2/etc), liberal arts college, HBCU, K–12, etc.
One great way to boost the impact of your Shapley event is to coordinate with other schools and community institutions in your area.  If you are interested in collaborating with other local organizations (such as K–12 schools, community centers, libraries), please list them here. For each partner, note why they would be a good collaborator, their proposed role, and a contact person.
Scheduling Preferences (2026)

Please provide as much detail as possible regarding your availability:

  • Preferred date ranges: (e.g., during spring semester, after midterm break)
  • Dates to avoid: (e.g., academic breaks, local holidays)
  • If applicable, community or campus events to integrate with: (e.g., campus anniversary, local science festival—include exact dates if known)
Please describe the capacity and type of space available for the lecture (e.g., lecture hall seating 250, auditorium, planetarium).
If you have organized public or educational science events before, please describe them. (Note: Previous experience is not required.)
Speaker and Program Preferences
If desired, list any astronomy or space science topics you would like your visiting lecturer to focus on (e.g., the Sun, black holes, planets in our solar system, exoplanets, galaxies, the Big Bang).
Is it important that your speaker has certain experiences or personal characteristics (e.g., is a community college graduate, from your region, shares a similar cultural background with your community, has non-academic career experience)? Please list any preferences here.
Organizational / Resource Needs
Additional Information