Taiwan won five gold and three silver medals at the 25th Asian Physics Olympiad hosted by Saudi Arabia, according to the Ministry of Education May 12.
Staged May 4 to 12, the annual physics contest for high school students involved over 200 contestants from nearly 30 countries and territories, the MOE said, adding that Taiwan ranked third overall in the event.
The team was jointly led by professor Chen Chuan-ren from National Taiwan Normal University’s Department of Physics in Taipei City and Tsai Shang-fang, former physics professor at National Taiwan University in Taipei, according to the MOE. To qualify, students must complete four rounds of competitions, with this year’s contestants selected after outperforming 2,405 of their peers, the ministry added.
Under the ministry’s incentive program for international mathematics or science Olympiad participants, the gold and silver medal winners will each be awarded NT$100,000 (US$3,296) and NT$50,000, respectively. Winners of gold, silver and bronze medals also automatically qualify for admission to the physics department of any Taiwan university without needing to take an entrance examination.
The MOE’s K-12 Education Administration said that it will continue to select and train outstanding students to participate in competitions in order to expand their international horizons, promote international exchanges and cultivate physics talent for the country. (YCH-E)
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