The IoA is a department of the University of Cambridge and is engaged in teaching and research in the fields of theoretical and observational Astronomy. A wide class of theoretical and observational problems are studied, ranging from the study and observations of extrasolar planets to supermassive black holes and quasars and of the evolution of the whole Universe, through theories and observations of the formation and evolution of galaxies and stars, X-ray sources and black holes. Much observational work centres around the use by staff of large telescopes abroad and in space to study quasars, galaxies and the chemical constitution of stars. Instrumentation development is also an important area of activity, involving charge coupled devices and detector arrays for rapid recording of very faint light and the design and construction of novel spectrographs. The Institute comprises about 92 research staff (including academic staff, senior research fellows, postdoctoral fellows, and emeriti), 52 graduate students and 29 professional services staff. There are close links with the Cavendish Astrophysics Group (formerly the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory) as well as with the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, all conducting complementary research programmes here in Cambridge.