The International Chemistry
Olympiad (IChO) is an
annual academic competition for
high school students. It is one of
the
international science olympiads.
The first IChO was held in
Prague,
Czechoslovakia, in
1968. The event has been held
every year since then except
1971. The delegations that
attended the first events were
mostly countries of the former
Eastern bloc, and it was not
until
1980, the 12th IChO, that the
event was held outside of it, in
Austria.
Each delegation consists of up
to four students, and two mentors
(one of them is designated as the
head of the delegation). A
delegation may also include a
guest and a scientific observer.
Students must be under the age of
20 and must not be enrolled as
regular students in any
post-secondary education
institution. The International
Information Center of the
International Chemistry Olympiad
is based in
Bratislava,
Slovakia.
Countries who wish to
participate in the IChO must send
observers to two consecutive
olympiads before their students
can participate in the event. A
total of 68 countries took part in
the 36th IChO: 61 as participants
and 7 as observers.
The competition consists of 2
examinations, a theoretical
examination and a experimental
examination. Both have a duration
of up to 5 hours, and are held on
separate days (usually the
practical is held before the
theoretical). The theoretical
examination has a value of 60
points, and the practical
examination has a value of 40
points. Each test is evaluated
independently from the other, and
the sum of the results of the
examinations determines the
student's overall result.
Students receive the
examination translated to their
language, as it is the duty of the
mentors to translate the tests
from English before they are given
to the competitors. After the
examinations are held and
evaluated by a committee appointed
by the organizing country, but
before the awards are assigned,
mentors discuss the evaluation of
the tests with judges of the
committee, to assure fairness in
the evaluation. Because the
mentors have knowledge of the
exams before they are held, any
communication between the mentors
and the students is strictly
forbidden.
The syllabus of the competition
contains subjects from several
areas of
chemistry, such as
inorganic chemistry,
organic chemistry,
physical chemistry,
analytical chemistry,
biochemistry and
spectroscopy. Though the
majority of the subjects are
included in most secondary school
chemistry programs, for the most
part they are evaluated at a much
deeper level and some may require
a level of knowledge and
understanding comparable to that
of post-secondary education. In
addition, the host country of each
IChO issues a set of preparatory
problems well in advance of the
competition. These preparatory
problems cover specific topics in
significantly more depth than
typical post-secondary education.
Preparation for the International
Chemistry Olympiad demands a high
level of understanding and
interest in chemistry, and an
outstanding ability to relate
chemical subjects with each other
and with the practical world.
All participants are ranked
based on their individual scores,
and no team scores are given. Gold
medals are awarded to the top 10%
of students, silver medals are
awared to the next 20% of students
and bronze medals are awarded to
the next 30% of students.
Honorable mentions are awarded to
participants that do not win a
medal but score a perfect problem
in either the theoretical or the
practical examination. Two
separate special awards are given
to the students who get the best
score in the theoretical and in
the practical examination.
These events are also
outstanding opportunities for the
students to meet people from all
around the world who share similar
interests, to visit different
places and get in touch with
different cultures. As the aims of
the competition establish, the
IChO competitions help to enhance
friendly relations among young
people from different countries;
they encourage cooperation and
international understanding.
While each country is free to
choose its team by whatever means
it deems appropriate, it is
usually done by holding regional
and national olympiads. Once the
team is selected (or as part of
the selection process), students
often go to "training camps",
where mentors from their country
give them accelerated
college-level courses in
chemistry, with an emphasis on the
topics covered in that year's
preparatory problems. It is agreed
that such training programs must
not exceed a total duration of two
weeks, but there are allegations
every year that some countries
exceed this limit by months, or
even years. Another concern is
that some countries tend to bring
the same students repeatedly,
which helps them obtain better
medals; while this is not against
the rules, some mentors feel that
it goes against the spirit of the
competition.
