The International Astronomical Union is excited to introduce the new Organizing Committee of the IAU EC Working Group of Junior Members for the Triennium 2024-2027.

We intend to organize a regular series of three discourses once every quarter, a “researcher in spotlight” once every month and other events in accordance with the goals of the EC WG of JMs which are as follows:

1. Build a global network of early career researchers.
2. Involve JMs in IAU activities.
3. Provide a platform to share experiences and insights.
4. Identify and address challenges faced by early career researchers.
5. Propose solutions to improve research environments.
6. Organize a regular international conference for early career astronomers to share expe-riences, promote research, network with industry, and explore entrepreneurship.
7. Represent JMs in IAU activities.

We would like to encourage IAU Individual Members to share this information with any younger colleagues who may not yet be an IAU Junior Member but may be interested in becoming one. By doing so, you’ll help raise awareness about the IAU Junior Membership, which aims to create a collaborative platform for early-career researchers. Our goal is to reach as many individuals as possible. We also encourage interested IAU Individual Members to reach out to us at iaujuniormember@gmail.com if they would like to contribute by delivering a talk that could be useful to the IAU Junior Members. You are also welcome to organize/suggest events besides talks within the IAU EC Working Group of Junior Members and we can help promote and manage them. While we recognize this is an additional commitment, we believe your expertise and experience would be invaluable in supporting early-career researchers.

We encourage all IAU Junior Members to connect with us on social media for engaging interactions and updates on upcoming events. We welcome your suggestions on topics you'd like to see in our next discourse series. Additionally, we invite interested IAU Junior Members to send a 1-minute video introducing themselves (name, designation, affiliation), along with their research interests and hobbies, to iaujuniormember@gmail.com. We’ll share these videos on our Instagram to help build a stronger network and encourage future membership. Lastly, we plan to organize a brainstorming session for IAU Junior Members to connect better and understand individual potentials and possible contributions to the Working Group.

We look forward to your participation and ideas in building a strong community.

Best regards,

The Organizing Committee of the IAU EC Working Group of Junior Members

Reply to: iaujuniormember@gmail.com