International Biology Olympiad

The International Biology Olympiad (IBO) is a science olympiad for students in sixth form (age 16 to 18). The first academic international Olympiads after the (originally Eastern European-based) International Mathematical Olympiad were launched under the auspices of the United Nations in the 1960s. The programs have gradually expanded to include more than 70 participating countries across five continents. The IBO is one of these olympiads. All participating countries send the four winners of their National Biology Olympiad to the IBO, accompanied by usually one team leader and two observers/jurors.

Aims

The aims of the IBO are to promote a career in science for talented students and to stress the importance of biology in our current society. It also provides a great opportunity to compare educational methods and exchange experiences. This is useful information to improve biology education on a national level. Since the organization of every National Olympiad requires the cooperation of many institutions, such as ministries of education, industry, teachers' associations, universities and schools, communication and cooperation between those institutions is promoted and intensified. Lastly, the IBO stimulates contact between students and teachers from many countries in a friendly environment. To demonstrate this, both students and teachers swear an oath of behaving according to the principles of fair play.

Procedure

The competition itself is composed of a theoretical and practical element. The theory exams cover a wide range of Biology: Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Plant Anatomy and Physiology, Animal Anatomy and Physiology, Ethology, Genetics and Evolution, Ecology, and Biosystematics. The marks are scaled so that the theory and practical components each have a weighting of about fifty percent.

All participants are ranked based on their individual scores. These are based on the results of a theoretical and a practical test, each making up approximately fifty percent of the final score. Gold medals are awarded to the top ten percent of students, silver medals are awarded to the next twenty percent of students and bronze medals are awarded to the next thirty percent of students. Despite the oath of fair play, one student has been caught cheating and was disqualified.

Language

The official language of the IBO is English. To provide equal opportunities for all participants, the tests are translated prior to the testing days. This is done by each country's own team leaders and jurors. This means they hold specific information on the tests before the participants should know. Therefore, teachers and students are lodged in separate accommodations.

Objectives of Participants

The goals that each participant hopes to achieve in the IBO contest may vary widely from winning medals to socializing and exploring interactions between different cultures.

Past and future IBOs

Each year, the IBO is organised by a different country.

Former Czechoslovakia, Olomouc in 1990
Former Soviet Union, Makhachkala in 1991
Former Czechoslovakia, Poprad in 1992
Netherlands, Utrecht in 1993
Bulgaria, Varna in 1994
Thailand, Bangkok in 1995
Ukraine, Artek in 1996
Turkmenistan, Ashgabat in 1997
Germany, Kiel in 1998
Sweden, Uppsala in 1999
Turkey, Antalya in 2000
Belgium, Brussels in 2001
Latvia, Riga in 2002
Belarus, Minsk in 2003
Australia, Brisbane in 2004
China, Beijing in 2005
Argentina, Río Cuarto in 2006
Canada, Saskatoon in 2007
India, Mumbai in 2008
Japan, Tsukuba in 2009
Korea, Changwon in 2010
Taiwan, Taipei in 2011
Singapore in 2012
Switzerland, Bern in 2013
New Zealand, Hamilton in 2014
Denmark, Aarhus in 2015
Vietnam, Hanoi in 2016
United Kingdom, in 2017
Iran, Ispahan in 2018^[1]

References

^ Information about next IBOs from official website

External links

Websites of individual IBOs

[1] Information about next IBOs from official website

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