Professor John Hearnshaw introduced SWAPA in 2014 as a program to recognise and reward ten high-achieving secondary school students with a passion for astronomy by sending them to the annual RASNZ conference.

 

Each year, the Society invites students from all New Zealand secondary schools to compete in a short essay competition, explaining why they would like to attend the conference. For the first three years of SWAPA, selected students received a waived registration fee and a free conference dinner ticket, thanks to a donation from Graham Blow. In 2018, Michael Snowden's generous contribution allowed the SWAPA scheme to cover students' travel, accommodation, registration, and conference dinner expenses. The University of Canterbury Foundation now administers Snowden's donation, which is expected to provide continued support for SWAPA students in perpetuity.

 

Over eleven RASNZ conferences (2015-2025), exceptional young students received SWAPA scholarships and participated in the events held in Tekapo, Napier, Dunedin, Christchurch, New Plymouth, Wellington, Whangarei, Auckland, Nelson and Whakatane. Many of them have gone on to excel in astronomy and astrophysics at university. Due to the pandemic, the 2020 conference was cancelled, so in 2021, a double cohort of SWAPA students was selected to attend the Wellington conference. The group comprised nine students selected in 2020 and ten selected in 2021, supported by Michael Snowden's donation.

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