The International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) is a chemistry competition organised for students at secondary school level with the aim of promoting international contacts in chemistry. It is intended to stimulate the activities of students interested in chemistry by a way of the independent and creative solution of chemical problems. The IChO competitions help to facilitate cordial relations between young adults of different nationalities; they encourage cooperation and international understanding.
50th IChO 2018 – International Chemistry Olympiad
The IChO is organized every year, as a rule at the beginning of July, in one of the Participating countries by the Education Ministry or an appropriate institution of the organizing country (hereafter referred to as the organizer).
| Online registration begins | 01 Feb 2018 |
| Deadline for Country Registration | 01 Mar 2018 |
| Deadline for Head mentor, mentor, observer and guest registration | 01 May 2018 |
| Deadline for student registration and Payment | 01 Jun 2018 |
| Deadline for online registration of all travel details | 15 Jun 2018 |
| Official arrival day | 19 Jul 2018 |
| Opening ceremony | 20 Jul 2018 |
| Practical exam day | 23 Jul 2018 |
| Theoretical exam day and Reunion Party | 25 Jul 2018 |
| Closing ceremony and Farewell Party | 28 Jul 2018 |
| Official departure day | 29 Jul 2018 |
Unless directed otherwise by the International Jury, the organizer is obliged to invite all countries that participated with a team during either of the preceding two IChO competitions. The official invitation to participate in the forthcoming IChO should be sent to countries by the November preceding the competition. The countries invited must confirm their participation in the IChO according to requirements of the organizer.
IChO 2018 Registration
Registration is organized through the head mentor for each country. The country receives the formal invitation by December. The registration data should be provided on time. If deadlines can not be adhered to, mentors should inform the organizers in time. The host countries usually assist the teams to meet visa requirements.
It has become a custom at the Olympiads that many countries make the problems of their respective national olympiads or selection exams available to mentors of other countries (translated or in the original language). This has been done via printouts, CD-ROMs or websites.
Preparatory Problems
The 50th IChO preparatory problems are now available to download. The solutions will be sent to the head mentor of each country by email by 15thFebruary 2018 and will be published online on 1st June 2018.
- Preparatory Problems – Theoretical
- Preparatory Problems – Practical
- Preparatory Problems – Corrections
Preparation for the IChO Competition
The organizer distributes a set of preparatory tasks written in English to all participating countries in January of the competition year. The preparatory tasks are intended to give students a good idea of the type and difficulty of the competition tasks, including safety aspects
The total number of theoretical and experimental tasks in the set of preparatory problems cannot be lower than 25 and 5, respectively.
Competition details
The competition consists of two parts:
- Part one, the practical (experimental) competition,
- Part two, the theoretical competition.
A working time of four to five hours is allotted for each part. There is at least one day of rest between the two parts.
Competitors receive all relevant information in the language of their choice and are allowed to write the solutions in that language.
When pocket calculators are not provided by the organizer, only nonprogrammable pocket calculators may be used in the competition.
IChO Correction & Marking scheme
- A maximum of 60 points is allocated to the theoretical tasks and 40 points to the practical tasks, making a total of 100 points.
- The competition tasks are corrected independently by the authors and by the mentors. Consequential marking should be used so that students are not punished twice for the same error. Both corrections are then compared, however, the authors present their evaluation first. After a discussion the final score for each participant is reached and agreed by both sides. The organizer retains the original marked manuscripts.
- The International Jury discusses the results and decides on the final scores.
- In order to eliminate any doubts about possible mistakes in the processing of the results the organizer must provide the mentors with a list of their students’ total results before the closing award ceremony.
IChO 2018 Result
Official results of the competition and the number of medals awarded are decided by the International Jury. The number of gold medals awarded is in the range of 8% to 12%, silver 18% to 22%, and bronze medals 28% to 32% of the total number of competitors. The exact number of medals is decided on the basis of a blind review of the results. Each competitor receives a certificate of participation.
The Steering Committee of the International Chemistry Olympiad will publish the result of 50th International Chemistry Olympiad (ICho) 2018. Candidates can check the result through the direct link which will be updated here once it is declared.
Other Important Links
Previous year Result
Candidates can check the previous year result which was declared by the chair of the scientific committee from below.
Future IChO’s
- 51th IChO – July 2019 – Paris, France
- 52nd – IChOJuly, 2020 – Turkey, Konya,
- 53rd IChO – July 2021 – Osaka, Japan
Previous Year Problems with Solutions
The Competition Problem with their solution is given below.
- Volume 1 [1st – 20th IChO (1968-1988)]
- Volume 2 [21st – 40th IChO (1989-2008)]
- Volume 3 [41st – 45th IChO (2009-2013)]
Talent Search Exams & Olympiads
