Dr Marek Nikołajuk, Prof. of University of Bialystok (UwB) from the Faculty of Physics UwB, was appointed to join the administration of the International Astronomical Union. Over the next 4 years, he will be the Secretary IAU – National Committee for Astronomy in Poland.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is an organization of world professional astronomers. Established in 1919, it currently has 13,392 members from 113 countries around the world. Poland has been a member of the IAU since 1922.

IAU’s mission is to promote and support astronomy in all its aspects: research, education, popularization and international cooperation.

As the only one such organization worldwide, IAU has the exclusive right to give names to newly discovered celestial bodies (including galaxies, stars, extrasolar planets, objects in our solar system).