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Global Astronomy Survey : Mongolia
1. Professional (Research) Astronomy
(i) Number of universities offering Astronomy (and their names) 1. National University of Mongolia. 2. Mongolian State University of Education. 3. University of Khovd province (ii) Number of universities offering Physics (and their names) 1. National University of Mongolia; 2. Mongolian State University of Education; 3. Mongolian University for Science and Technology; 4. University of the Humanities; 5. Mongolian State University of Agriculture; 6. Health Sciences University of Mongolia; 7. Mongolian Military University; 8. University of Khovd province; 9. Ulaanbaatar University iii. Number of academics who have been trained in Astronomy (ideally with their names and levels of qualification About 15 researchers trained in Astronomy: 1. Prof. Dr. Ch.Lkhagvajav – Astrophysicist, Director of School of Physics and Electronics, NUM 2. Dr. G.Batsukh – Physicist, Dean of Geophysics Department, School of Physics and Electronics, NUM 3. Dr. R.Tsolmon – Mathematician, Director of NUM-ITC-UNESCO Space Science Laboratory, NUM 4. A.Dulmaa – Physicist, Lecturer on Physics and Astronomy, School of Physics and Electronics, NUM 5. Dr. B.Bekhtur – Astrophysicist, Director of Center of Astronomy and Geophysics, Mongolian Academy of Sciences 6. Dr. D.Batmunkh – Astrophysicist, Dean of Solar Physics Research Group, Mongolian Academy of Sciences 7. Other researchers iv. Number of astronomical facilities (observatories, telescopes, etc) and as much detail about each as possible (websites/contact details) The observatory named Khureltogoot near the capital city Ulaanbaatar: website:
www.mas.ac.mn
v. Self evaluation (according to the different phases above, how would you rate your country in terms of Professional Astronomy? Please include any other relevant information to motivate your choice.) Mongolia is “Phase 2” country. 2. Public Understanding of Astronomy:
i. What governmental astronomy/science outreach programmes for the public take place (co-ordinated either by government departments or national facilities) None ii. What non-governmental astronomy/science outreach programmes for the public take place (NGO activities or international programmes that your country is involved in) There is limited NGO activities in terms of astronomy/science outreach programmes for the public. However, we organized First International Astronomy summer school in 2008 and Eclipse International activities August 1, 2008 in Mongolia. iii. Comment on the presence of astronomy in the media (TV, radio, newspapers). Is it very prominent? Are there specific programmes on astronomy? Is the media generally willing to publish news on astronomy? There are no specific programs on astronomy in the media. Astronomy events are often covered by the Media from foreign news prompts. Sometimes, astronomy introduced by visiting programs, visiting teachers iv. Comment on the presence of astronomy/science in the general culture of the people. Are there any specific challenges or setbacks? Is astronomy a welcome subject of conversation? Today, Mongolia does not have a planetarium for public viewing. The younger generation as well as the general public find planetariums fascinating. Astronomy is a very welcome subject of conservation. Specially astronomy is interested by nomadic people and herders who live in the remote countryside where the skies are very dark and unpolluted have a good opportunity to use small telescopes. v. Self evaluation (according to the different phases above, how would you rate your country in terms of Public Understanding of Astronomy? Please include any other relevant information to motivate your choice.) “Phase 3” There is a great potential of public interest to promote , develop and increase science knowledge in astronomy 3. Astronomy in Schools:
i. What governmental astronomy/science education and outreach programmes for schools take place (co-ordinated either by government departments or national facilities) Not yet ii. What non-governmental astronomy/science education and outreach programmes for schools take place (NGO activities or international programmes that your country is involved in) The National university of Mongolia had activities in following: - Training program on Astronomy teaching for secondary school teachers - Astronomical Summer School for teachers, students and amateur astronomers - We are going to attend in the international projects: 100 Hours of Astronomy Dark Skies Awareness Galileo Teacher Training Programme iii. Comment on the presence of astronomy in the school curriculum. Is it part of the school curriculum? Is it very prominent? What age groups? Astronomy is a part of Physics subject of secondary and high school curriculum (15-18 years old). Astronomy is included as part of Natural Science subject of elementary School curriculum (10-12 years old). Astronomy is not prominent now. Astronomy teaching in Mongolia is not coordinated and is taught as part of other subjects. Astronomy education falls further behind other subjects taught in schools in Mongolia. iv. Comment on the status of astronomy/science in schools. Are there any specific challenges or setbacks? Sufficient number of students studying maths and science? General interest in maths/science/astronomy in schools? Since 1990s the study of Astronomy was drastically reduced into a group of Physics, Natural Science and Geography, with limited number of pupils & students interested and attending. There is sufficient number of students who study maths and science. We have limited teachers with training in Astronomy. We have no telescopes for astronomy in schools v. Self evaluation (according to the different phases above, how would you rate your country in terms of Astronomy in Schools? Please include any other relevant information to motivate your choice.) Mongolia is “Phase 4” country in terms of Astronomy in Schools. Any other general comments or information that you feel would be useful for this survey? Since we have no government support and people are not aware of how astronomy can help their socioeconomic life. In order to raise public and government officials’ awareness of astronomy, we would like to organize a workshop titled “Empowering astronomical communities in Mongolia” to strengthen and create an astronomy network including scientists, government officials and herders from nomadic life in Mongolia. The educational system of Mongolia has no astronomy textbook and telescopes. We extremely need the support of the international Astronomy community to support that effort with concrete materials (telescopes, books, planetariums, teaching materials etc.) We need at least few telescopes that can be distributed to each universities and some secondary schools. Thank you for doing survey for us. . |
| Last Updated on Sunday, 13 September 2009 17:05 |