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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 . STRUCTURE AND RULES OF THE COMPETITION 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 an 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. A scientific jury, which is installed from the host country, suggests the tasks. The international jury, which consists of 2 mentors from each of the participating countries, discusses the competition tasks and translates it into the language of each country. Students receive the examination translated to their language; 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''. PREPARATION FOR THE COMPETITION 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. HISTORY The idea of the chemistry Olympiad was developed in the former Czechoslovakia in 1968. It was designed with the aim to increase the number of international contacts and the exchange of information between nations. Invitations were sent by the Czech national committee to all socialist countries, except Romania. However, in May 1968, relations between Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union became so delicate that only Poland and Hungary participated in the first international competition. The first International Chemistry Olympiad took place in Prague between 18 and 21 June, 1968. Each of the three participating countries sent a team of six pupils, and four theoretical tasks were to be solved. Guidelines for the next competitions were already suggested. The second chemistry Olympiad took place in 1969 in Poland, and Bulgaria also participated. Each team consisted of five pupils, and an experimental competition was added. The decision was made to invite more socialist countries to future competitions and to limit the number of pupils to four. The third Olympiad in 1970 was organised in Hungary with the GDR, Romania and the Soviet Union as new countries. In this competition, more than three prizes were distributed to the pupils. There was no Olympiad held in 1971, as at the end of the previous year's competition, they couldn't agree on a place to organise and host the event. This was solved for the next three years by diplomatically agreeing on the Soviet Union to host 1972, Bulgaria in 1973 and Romania in 1974. 1972 was the first time where preparation tasks for the chemistry Olympiad were created. Also, at a jury session, someone suggested inviting Vietnam, Mongolia and Cuba. However, this increase did not occur, leaving seven to compete in 1973. In 1974, Romania invited Sweden and Yugoslavia to the Olympiad in Bucharest, and Germany and Austria sent observers. The Federal Republic of Germany was the first NATO-country with an observer present, and was only able to occur because of the Brandt government having contracts in the East. Thus, in 1975 West Germany, Austria, and Belgium also participated in the Olympiad. Since 1977, the Olympiad has been promoted and funded by UNESCO. The first Olympiad in a non-socialist country took place 1980 in Linz in Austria, although the Soviet Union did not participate. Since then the number of the participating countries has increased continuously. In 1980 only 13 nations took part, and this increased to 21 in the 1984 Olympiad in Frankfurt/Main. With the fall of the Iron Curtain and the break-up of the Soviet Union into independent states at the beginning of the 1990s, the number of participants increased again. In addition, the increasing interest of the Latin American countries became apparent with the numbers of participants. Only a country from Africa is missing, so that pupils from all five continents participate. Altogether 47 delegations participated in 1998. Though this strong increase of the numbers of participants is very satisfactory, it involves some substantial problems for the host country. Nevertheless, this problem should be solvable with the introduction of moderate start fees for the teams. PAST AND FUTURE INTERNATIONAL CHEMISTRY OLYMPIADS
EXTERNAL LINKS
Preparatory problems, results and the theoretical and practical examinations can be found in each IChO's website. |