IBO 2019- International Biology Olympiad

Biology competition for secondary school students is organized by the International Biology Olympiad (IBO), Their skills in tackling biological problems, and dealing with biological experiments are tested. Interest in biology, inventiveness, creativity, and perseverance are necessary. There are more than 70 countries are participating across the 5 continents. There are only 4 winners are sent to participate, who have won the National Biology Olympiad, usually accompanied by the two International Jury member.

IBO 2019- International Biology Olympiad

In bringing together gifted students, the IBO competition tries to challenge and stimulate these students to expand their talents and to promote their career as scientists. A very important point is gathering young people from over the world in an open, friendly and peaceful mind.

Candidates who have won the National Biology Olympiad will have to apply visa for Hungary before April 2019.

The IBO is organized every year, as decided it will begin in July, the schedule is given below:

Detailed Program Plan

Registration Process

Each registration action is allowed to carry out only by the authorized Country Coordinators. The data processing and handling is ruled out by the GDPR compatible Privacy Policy of the IBO 2019. Filling any form or query means that the data provider accepts these conditions.

The process of registration consists of the following steps:

1. Country Registration – without financial obligation
2. Group Registration – with financial obligation
3. Person Registration
4. Travel Information Form

The details, forms, and login data are shared with the country coordinators.

Declaration Forms are available:

• General Student Declaration Form for IBO 2019
• Parent’s/Legal Guardian’s Consent Form
• Adult Students/Guides Consent Form

Exam Pattern

Practical Exam

There will be four round during the day of Practical Exams (16th July), each will last 90 mins.

The Four Topics (And Arrangement) are:

1. Neurobiology and Bioinformatics*
2. Biochemistry
3. Animal and Plant Anatomy, Systematics and Ecology
4. Molecular Biology and Animal Physiology

* Bioinformatics: an offline version of Geneious Software 

The main aim is to assess and compare:

1) students’ ability to use normal laboratory and biological techniques:
         – Measuring (volume / mass / voltage)
         – Light Microscopy 
         – Spectrophotometry
         – Gel-electrophoresis
         – Dissection
         – Identification based on a key

2) students’ ability to gain, process and visualize numerical data

3) students’ reasoning and problem-solving skills:
         – Stating, verifying and refusing a hypothesis 
         – Inductive, deductive and correlational reasoning
         – Creativity and designing an experiment.

Theoretical exams

• Consists of two separate tests
• The basis of calculating t-scores is the sum of the raw scores of the two tests.
• Raw scores are calculated as the sum of the correctly solved individual items’ points 
• The tests will be paper-based (not computer based)
• Question types based on their format:
  • Multiple Choice with more than one correct answer
  • True/False 
  • Completing Diagrams (e.g.: flowcharts)
  • Calculations
  • Data and graph analysis 
• Question types based on the required thinking skills:
  • Analogical reasoning
  • Inductive reasoning
  • Deductive reasoning
  • Problem-solving
  • Data handling
  • Probabilistic reasoning
  • Correlational reasoning 

Venues

The main venues and event locations are as follows:

• Opening Ceremony: National Theatre of Szeged
• Closing Ceremony and Theory Exams: Attila József Education and Information Center at the University of Szeged
• Practical Exams: Andras Dugonics Piarist Grammar School
• Jury Room: IH Event Center
• Excursions: Ópusztaszer, Budapest, Kecskemét, and Lajosmizse

Previous Year Question Paper

All IBO examination questions are published under the Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-SA (Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike). The exam papers can be used freely for educational purposes as long as IBO (International Biology Olympiad e.V.) is credited and new creations are licensed under identical terms. No commercial use is allowed.

Click Here to download the Previous year question paper of IBO.

Result

The results will be proclaimed on an individual basis and not as a national team result. Each competitor will obtain a certificate that recognizes his/her participation in the IBO. Medals are awarded based on a mathematical procedure without discussion by the jury. One Jury member is appointed by its peers to supervise this process. In addition to medals, the award of other prizes is possible, if agreed upon in advance by the jury. Medals and prizes must not be of significant material value. The final ranking of the competitors is based upon their equally weighted scores for the theoretical and practical tasks according to the t-score method. According to the merit, the winner will get Gold Medal, Silver Medal, Bronze Medal and Certificate of Merit.

Aims of the IBO

The IBO competition aims at secondary school students who are interested in biology. In bringing together gifted students, the IBO challenges and stimulates students to expand their talents and to promote a career in science. The objectives of this competition are to:

• Stimulate active interest in biological studies.
• Promote networking and understanding between biology students
• Promote and exchange ideas about biology education.

Official website: www.ibo2019.org

Olympiads