The 30th International Biology Olympiad[1] 2019 (IBO 2019) was held in Szeged, Hungary from July 14 to 20, 2019, with Japan being represented by four high school students. As part of its CSR activities, Toray, through the Japan Science Foundation, has been providing support for the dispatch of the students from the perspective of nurturing human resources who would pay important roles in the future of biology.
This year, the four students, chosen from about 4,200 students in a qualifying event, underwent three special training sessions in addition to individual coaching at their respective local universities, with special focus on experiments, prior to their participation in the international meet. Participants are given experimental and theoretical examinations, and students with good scores are awarded gold medal (about top 10% of the participants), silver medal (about next 20%), and bronze medal (about next 30%). With 285 high school students participating in IBO 2019 from 72 countries and regions, all Japanese participants won medals (two silver and two bronze medals).
IBO in 2020 is slated to be held in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. The first qualifying round for deciding the participants of IB 2020 was held on July 14. We hope more young gifted students will get to know the profoundness of biology and fully demonstrate their ability in the international scene.
[1] International Biology Olympiad (IBO)
An international contest for high school students interested in biology. It has been held every year in July since 1990. Japan participated in the 16th IBO held in Beijing, China in 2005 for the first time and has been sending representatives every year since then.
