AAS Receives AIP Venture Grant to Support Astronomy Education in Africa

The American Astronomical Society (AAS) is pleased to announce that it is the recipient of a 2025–2026 AIP Venture Grant, issued by the American Institute of Physics (AIP), to carry out the project “Developing astronomy teaching capacity for university educators in Africa.” We are supporting the professional development of the African community of university undergraduate astronomy educators through two workshops at conferences of the African Astronomical Society (AfAS), a survey about undergraduate astronomy teaching in Africa, a Town Hall discussion, online communities of practice, and an article summarizing the project findings and outcomes. 

Dr. Linda Strubbe, Independent Educational Consultant and Astrophysicist (Strubbe Educational Consulting), conceived of the project and is leading the effort. Dr. Strubbe is the recent co-winner of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Astronomy Education Prize for her leadership on the Pan-African School for Emerging Astronomers (PASEA) project, in collaboration with fellow prize recipient Dr. Bonaventure Okere. Dr. Strubbe has a PhD in Astrophysics from the University of California, Berkeley (2011), and has worked on astronomy education in Africa for 13 years. She was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA), a Science Teaching & Learning Fellow at the University of British Columbia’s Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative, and a Postdoctoral Researcher at the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT). Dr. Tom Rice, the AAS Education Program Manager, is supporting the project and providing guidance as the AAS Project Liaison.

This is a special time for astronomy in Africa, thanks to investment in new world-class astronomical facilities around the continent, such as the High Energy Stereoscopic System, the African Very Long Baseline Interferometry Network, and soon, the Square Kilometre Array. The African scientific community has a strong desire to play leadership roles in these facilities. A growing number of African universities are offering postgraduate programs in astronomy, and the IAU held its General Assembly in Africa for the first time in the IAU’s 100-year history last August. In the vision to increase the number of African astronomers and related STEM professionals, strengthening undergraduate astronomy education is a crucial piece. Our project speaks to the African astronomical community’s Vision 2024, which highlights “a need to improve teaching capacity” and recommends “organizing teaching skills development workshops.”

The first workshop in this project, titled BLUESHIFT Africa, will be held at the AfAS 2025 Conference at the University of South Africa in Johannesburg from 22–23 March 2025. Twenty-three early-career scientists from across Africa will participate in this two-day workshop. The workshop will focus on interactive and inclusive teaching strategies through formats such as community-building discussions and collaborative activity design. The workshop is designed from research-based best practices in physics and astronomy education and faculty professional development. It builds on Dr. Strubbe’s previous work, including PASEA, and draws inspiration from similar workshops in this space, such as the APS/AAS/AAPT Physics & Astronomy Faculty Teaching Institute. We are excited about this effort and welcome you to contact Dr. Strubbe if you would like to learn more.

We gratefully acknowledge project contributions by: Dr. Tshiamiso Makwela (IAU-OAE, MPIA, UCT) for collaboration on project visioning and survey design, Dr. Charles Takalana (AfAS, IAU-OAD) and Yunus Manjoo (AfAS) for workshop coordination at AfAS, Dr. Electra Eleftheriadou (Educational Consultant and Coach) for collaboration on workshop design, and Joyce Achampong and Patrice Ajai-Ajagbe (Pivot Global Education Consulting) for project evaluation.