Mumbai, 26^th July 2021

 

All four students from India secured medals at the 32nd International Biology Olympiad (IBO), held from 18^th to 23^rd July bagging three SILVER and one BRONZE medals. Due to the pandemic the Olympiad, hosted by Portugal, was held as an online event this year, named “IBO Challenge II”. 304 students from 76 countries participated virtually in the competition.

Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), a national centre of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research has informed this in a press release issued today.

 

National Coordinator for Science Olympiads, HBCSE, Prof. Anwesh Mazumdar said that “Due to the unprecedented pandemic situation the students took the exams from their respective homes under thorough continuous video monitoring by both IBO organisers and HBCSE. The selection of the team was based on a national examination held in February, 2021. The students were trained only via online sessions conducted by HBCSE. The selection and training processes had to be curtailed and modified heavily this year to avoid risk of infection to students. We are happy that the students did very well even under these trying circumstances to maintain India’s record of an excellent performance at the Olympiads.” said Prof. Mazumdar.

Achievements of the Individual Contestants of the Team India (4)

   

Sr. No	Name of the Contestant	Medal
1	Anshul Siwach	(SILVER)
2	Dhiren Bharadwaj	(SILVER)
3	Naman Singh	(SILVER)
4	Swaraj Nandi	(BRONZE)

 

Details about International Biology Olympiad: https://ibo2021.org/

Prof. Mazumdar informed that IBO Challenge II consisted of two computer-based exams: one theoretical-practical and one theoretical exam, each for three hours. The theoretical-practical exam celebrated the 500th anniversary of the journey of the Portugese explorer Ferdinand Magellan who circumnavigated the earth for the first time (1519-1522). The exam had 8 parts, each of which focused on one halt of Magellan in different parts of the world. It consisted of questions covering areas such as plant biology, zoology, ecology and biotechnology. The theory exam had challenging questions encompassing all areas of biology including contemporary issues such as global warming and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ther four Jury Members from India who participated in the international jury discussions are: Prof. Madan Mohan Chaturvedi (Delhi University), Prof. Rekha Vartak (HBCSE, Mumbai), Dr Ram Kumar Mishra (IISER Bhopal) and Dr Sasikumar Menon (TDM Laboratories, Mumbai).

Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), a national centre of the Tata Institute of Fundamental   Research (TIFR), is the nodal centre in the country for Olympiads in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Astronomy and Astrophysics and Junior Science. The centre is responsible for the selection and training of the teams representing India at the International Olympiads. The Olympiad programme is supported by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Department of Space (DoS), and the Ministry of Education (MoE) of the Government of India.

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DL/DY

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