International Junior Science Olympiad
The International Junior Science Olympiad is an annual science competition for students aged 15 and under. Students are eligible to participate as long as they are less than 16 years old on December 31st of the competition year. It is one of the International Science Olympiads and an international academical competition that covers physics, chemistry and biology at the same time. The first IJSO was held in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2004. Around 50 countries send delegations of three to six students, plus one to three team leaders, and observers.
The competition is broken down into three tests, each of which lasts between three and four hours. The theoretical portion consists of two tests: a multiple choice questionnaire consisting of 30 questions, and a theoretical test. The practical portion consists of three laboratory examinations, one for each field.
Incidents
2020
Because of COVID-19, the 17th International Junior Science Olympiad 2020, originally planned to be held in Frankfurt, Germany, was cancelled.2021
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 18th International Junior Science Olympiad 2021 was conducted in a hybrid format. This allowed students from the participating countries to participate without travelling to the host country United Arab Emirates.2024
At the closing ceremony of 21st International Junior Science Olympiad 2024, 10 students that should have received a Bronze medal, mistakenly received a Silver and 10 students that should have received a Silver, instead were given a Bronze, but due to the only difference being the outline no sort of escalation by either side followed at all.Executive Committee
Current Members
Source:Emiel De Klejin
Thandie Lekone
Elena Losada Falk
Abdallah El Marhoune
Kwok-Tung Lu
Budhy Kurniawan
Former Members
Source:Presidents
Paresh K. JoshiSang Chun Lee
Masno Ginting
Vice Presidents
Ui Wook HwangParesh K. Joshi
Robin Naidoo
Heide Peters
Ronaldo Fogo
Fatima al-Rashid
Paraic James
Paulius L. Tamosiunas
Relations Officers
Heide PetersMahesh Edirisinghe
Echakart Lucis
Secretaries
Yung-Ta ChangRobin Powles
Treasurers
Kwok-Tung LuParaic James
Michael Cotter
The Event
Upon arrival in the hotel, students are met by their coordinators and led to their rooms. They are also given some gifts. Those include: An IJSO backpack, water bottle and a T-Shirt, alongside various different items.During the event, students and delegates are housed in separate hotels and get to meet each other on three occasions: Opening ceremony, cultural night and closing ceremony. After the opening ceremony ends, any electronics that can connect to Bluetooth are confiscated from students by the delegates. This is done in order to prevent students from knowing the test questions in advance, which are given to delegates one day before the test for them to translate those to their native languages. As a result, students are given two question papers: One in English, and one in their native language.