India Shines At 35th International Biology Olympiad 2024 In Kazakhstan
The Indian team, which participated at the 35th International Biology Olympiad (IBO) 2024 achieved remarkable success, with one student winning a GOLD medal and three students securing SILVER medals.
The 35th IBO was held at Astana, Kazakhstan, from July 7 to July 13, 2024. The team was led by two distinguished leaders, Prof. Sasikumar Menon from TDM Lab, Mumbai, and Dr. Mayuri Rege from Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), TIFR and two Scientific Observers, Dr. Rajesh Patkar from IIT Bombay, and Dr. Devesh Suthar from M. S. University, Baroda.
This year’s IBO saw participation from 305 students representing 80 countries. A total of 29 gold medals were awarded. The competition included four 1.5-hour experimental examinations and two 3.25-hour theory examinations. The experimental tests covered diverse topics: Animal Anatomy and Physiology, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, and Bioinformatics. Highlights of these exams included dissections of sheep eyeballs, plasmid purification, protein quantitation, rigorous pH titration, using methods like PCA and sequence analysis.
The theory tests presented challenging questions based on cutting-edge research in areas such as plant biology, cell biology, ethology, and biosystematics. The teachers and mentors from across the country and the Biology Olympiad cell of HBCSE deserve appreciation for training the students during the orientation and pre-departure camps at HBCSE.
The National Steering Committee, all the teacher organisations and the funding agencies of the Government of India also deserve special mention for their continued strong support of the Olympiad programme. A major national Olympiad programme in basic sciences and mathematics which connects to the international Olympiads is in operation in India. The HBCSE is the nodal centre of the country for this programme.
The programme aims at promoting excellence in science and mathematics among pre-university students. Among the sciences, the Olympiad programme in Astronomy (junior and senior level), Biology, Chemistry, Junior Science and Physics is a five stage process for each subject separately.
The first stage for each subject is organized by the Indian Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT) in collaboration with teacher associations in other subjects. The remaining stages for Astronomy (senior level), Biology, Chemistry, and Physics are organized by the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE). The remaining stages for Astronomy (junior level) are handled by the National Centre for Science Museums (NCSM). All stages of the Junior Science Olympiad are handled by IAPT.
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