Taiwan was the top performer at the 49th International Chemistry Olympiad July 6-14 in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand, with all four members of the national team claiming golds for their top-10 percent performances.
Yeh Yuan-chen from National Taichung First Senior High School in central Taiwan was the highest ranking Taiwan competitor, taking 2nd place among all contestants. The other gold medal winners are Fang Tung-hua and Yuan Chung-yueh from Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School, and Lin Wen-yu from Tainan First Senior High School in southern Taiwan.
The chemistry olympiad, or IChO, comprises two five-hour exams. A total of 279 students from 76 countries took part in the competition this year, with 196 taking home 36 golds, 65 silvers, and 95 bronzes.
“This was a tough battle, but our students completed their tasks with confidence and calmness,” the team’s mentor and National Taiwan Normal University professor Lu Chia-jung said after the closing ceremony. The group performed especially well in the practical portion of the exams, which is the main arena where students display their knowledge of chemistry, he added.
According to Ministry of Education, the four gold medal winners will each receive a prize of NT$200,000 (US$6,585) and are eligible for admission to the chemistry departments of any Taiwan university.
Since debuting at the event in 1992, Taiwan has topped the rankings in 1993, 1997, 2009, 2013 and 2015, earning 49 golds, 43 silvers and 11 bronzes. With the exception of 2011, the country has been a top-five finisher every year over the past decade.
One of the International Science Olympiads, IChO is an annual academic chemistry competition for high school students. It was first held in 1968 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. (CPY-E)
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