The International Astronomical and Physics Examination, held online in Columbia, ended on the evening of November 21, 2021, after five days of testing the talents of students under the age of 19 from more than 60 countries around the world. The Vietnamese student group took part in this examination with 5 students in class 12 Physics 1 of Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, including Tran Dinh Dung and Nguyen Khanh Tam (Gold Medal), Nguyen Manh Duc (Silver Medal), Le Duc An and Dinh Tran Hai Chien (Bronze Medal).

The Vietnam student team and teachers at the end of the International Astronomical and Physical Examination. Photo: NVCC.

Speaking to a reporter from Vietnam Education e-magazine, Tran Dinh Dung (Gold Medal) shared his thoughts on behalf of the team. According to Dung, "All preparations for this year's test had been conducted by the school's board of directors, the teachers and the team since early September, and everything has been prepared in both knowledge and mentality.

The test consisted of a theoretical section, a practical section with numerical processing and star viewing, but this year, due to the epidemic, our team had to familiarize ourselves with a new application proposed by the organizers; nevertheless, it wasn’t challenging for the Vietnam team because it was a numerical application.

Besides, our team had to get used to the night sky, and while everyone was sleeping, we moved to Hoa Lac to observe the sky, which changed our working hours a bit. The last thing, which can be said to be the hardest, is the very long theoretical part that can discourage anyone in the final stages. But our team worked really hard, going through nearly three months of continuous theoretical study to earn a solid knowledge of the test.

The entire review for the International Astronomy and Physics Examination did not require computational skills like calculus or derivation, but since it was an in-depth competition, the team still needed advanced knowledge that is only available in foreign documents, with an average of several hundred pages long for each topic, which is just the basic knowledge in the astronomical world.

In terms of star-viewing practice, we needed a place with a clear sky, good weather and without much dust and fog; however, in the last months in Hanoi, it was difficult to find a weather-friendly evening as required, so our team didn't get to practice much either. To see the stars, at first you have to see with the naked eye to get used to the starry sky, then you use a telescope to observe the stars and objects such as the galaxies, nebulae, etc."

All the team members won individual medals.

Team leader Nguyen Manh Duc (Silver Medal) said, "The entire test takes five days, with five hours for each day, including four days of individual and one day of team competition. Since we were very well prepared, we didn't have much difficulty. The only problem was the time difference, so the Vietnam team had to take the test from 5 PM to 10 PM, which was a bit tiring.

In terms of knowledge, the team did quite well on the test, yet there were still mistakes, so the tests weren’t perfect. But the five students who joined this year's team all won beyond expectation, which made us surprised.

In the individual section, each team member must take a separate examination, then scan and submit it to the judges, and the scores will be each member’s scores. Individual tests must be conducted independently, with each test ranging from 120 to 180 minutes long, including a theoretical test, a numerical processing test, a solar observation test and a star observation test.

The team test, which was essentially done by all five of the team members, required the judges to send the questions and the team to analyze the figures in the questions together. This could be said to be an exercise that mimics the actual work of astronomers when studying the stars and galaxies."

The school board, the teachers of Hanoi - Amsterdam High School, and the parents and students of the winning team. Photo: T.D.

Regarding the practice, Duc said, "It's a pity that we've been practicing star-viewing with telescopes too little because of the unfavourable weather in Hanoi. It's hard to see the stars due to light pollution, and it's foggy outside the city, leading to the observing test not earning perfect scores. In addition, telescope observing is also a skill in learning astronomy, to strengthen the ability to see the stars and objects in the sky."

Tran Quang Vinh, a former Physics student of the 18-21 school year of Ams, who participated in the training of the team, said, "I taught the team how to deal with the data, how to review the theoretical part, and how to deal with the data, as well as extract the data from the training team. Moreover, training this year’s team is Pham Vu Loc, an expert at the Vietnam Space Center, has taught the team a lot about star observation.”

Mr. Bui Van Phuc, Vice Principal of Hanoi - Amsterdam Specialized High School, said, "This year's competition, despite being online, had proved that the children have tried very hard.

Le Manh Cuong himself, a physics teacher at the school, and who was in charge of the examination team, also had a hard time reviewing his students’ knowledge during the period of social distancing. Everybody worked hard and focused on the test, and the results were surprising, with all five students who attended the test received medals. This is something we haven't had in years.

The school board has been keeping an eye on all plans to hold exams from the host country, organize with teachers to select and train the team, and also propose to the Hanoi Department of Education and Training to establish a team as soon as possible to have time to train the students."

According to the Vietnam Journal of Education.