Five-year postdoctoral position in astronomy education research at the Office of Astronomy for Education

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has recently founded the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE), which will be hosted at Haus der Astronomie, operated by the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy. The mission of the OAE is to support and coordinate astronomy education by astronomy researchers and educators, aimed at primary or secondary schools, world-wide, with the help of an international network of collaborators.

Specifically, the OAE is meant to help bridge the gap between astronomy education research (AER) and education practice, by making the results of AER accessible to education practitioners, in particular best-practice teaching methods and suitable evaluation techniques. The OAE will also develop high-quality educational resources, evaluate and promote existing such resources, and support the creation of evaluation tools such as concept inventories.

The holder of this five-year position will serve as the Astronomy Education Research Coordinator of the OAE, and in this position will contribute to OAE activities, in particular those that directly involve astronomy education or physics education research, taking responsibility for suitable projects and sub-projects. Subject to synergy with the activities of the OAE, applicants are encouraged to conduct their own research projects.

Applicants should:
• have a PhD in astronomy or physics education research (AER/PER) or PhD in a related area and equivalent qualifications in AER/PER
• have practical and, if possible, research experience in evaluating astronomy education resources, activities, and teaching methods
• be thoroughly familiar with the accepted academic standards for evaluating education resources, activities, and methods
• have experience in collaborating in an international academic environment

We also explicitly encourage early career scientists to apply.