The selected students of Hanoi representing Vietnam triumphed at IJSO 2021

On the night of 20/12, the International Junior Science Olympiad 2021 (IJSO) officially concluded with an online closing ceremony. At this olympiad, Vietnam’s representatives in Hanoi have achieved great accomplishments with all of the team’s 6 participants receiving medals, namely 4 Gold and 2 Silver.

4 Gold medals belong to: Lã Châu Giang, Bùi Tuấn Kiên, Nguyễn Phương Thùy, Trịnh Anh Minh. 2 Silver medals belong to: Nguyễn Trịnh Bảo Như, Trịnh Ninh Ngọc Mai. All 6 of them are 10th grade students studying at Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted.

The 18th International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO) held in 2021 was carried out in both an online and offline format, hosted by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from 12/12 to 20/12, joined by 400 participants coming from 59 countries and territories. 

In the year 2004, the first olympiad took place in Jakarta, Indonesia; since then, IJSO has been held annually by numerous countries with the aim of hosting an academic competition, fostering science thinking in students at an early age alongside putting their knowledge to the test and encouraging their love for science.

This is also the annual meeting for many countries to share each other’s education experiences so as to develop high-quality education and furthermore be a stepping stone to global cooperation in education, as well as cultural exchange between students and teachers from a variety of science communities around the globe.

Vietnamese participants being honored at the awards ceremony

In the olympiads, students must undertake 3 exams: multiple choice examination, theoretical examination, and practical examination. All participants must complete each test within the time limit of 240 minutes, and the tests’ questions are taken from 3 main fields: Physics, Chemistry and Biology. 

The tests are designed by the IJSO committee consisting of renowned professors and scientists from countries across the world. All questions in the exams are highly academic ones, requiring sharp logic, deep analysis and great science skills. 2021’s IJSO questions, in particular, were all integrated with high applicability and difficulties raised higher than ever before compared to those of the past IJSO exams.

In 2021, UAE’s Ministry of Education hosted the 18th IJSO. This has been the 10th time Hanoi’s Ministry of Education and Training was authorized to select students for the country’s representative team participating in IJSO. 2021 IJSO team includes 6 excellent 10th graders in Chemistry, Physics and Biology specialized classes of Hanoi - Amsterdam High School.

Overcoming the difficulties brought about by Covid-19 pandemic, the team has done their absolute best, studying and practicing intensively for the test. With 4 Gold and 2 Silver, this has been the highest achievement by the Vietnamese team out of all 10 times at IJSO.

Translator: Duc Lam - English 2023