International Biology Olympiad

The International Biology Olympiad (IBO) is a biological olympiad for pre-university students under the age 20, and is one of the most well-known International Science Olympiads. The first IBO was held in Czechoslovakia in 1990, and it has since been held annually. The competition have gradually expanded to include more than 75 participating countries across five continents. All participating countries send the four winners of their National Biology Olympiad to the IBO, usually accompanied by two adults who are members of the international jury, for the duration of the competition.

Logo of the International Biology Olympiad

To select these top four life science contestants for this international competition, all member countries host Biology Olympiad competitions in typically 3-5 consecutively more difficult national competition rounds. As a consequence, this leads to a trickle-down effect, engaging more than 1 million students worldwide in life science each year.[1]

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the IBO (host: Japan) was organized virtually[2] and was rated "a great success" and "highly successful" in the history of IBO[3] because of its exceptional way of operation and the unique international group-based scientific project International Group Project 2020.

In 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Portuguese IBO host to go virtual once again: the 2021 IBO was replaced by the IBO Challenge II, from July 18 to July 23.

IBO 2020 and the International Group Project

In the face of the threat of the International Science Olympiads' cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic (the International Physics Olympiad was officially canceled[4]), the IBO 2020 was the first in the International Science Olympiads that was claimed by the host (Japan) to be held entirely virtually with a guaranteed supervision to adapt to the pandemic.[3]

Notably, in the IBO 2020, the International Group Project was proposed. This is the first international group-based scientific project in the history of International Science Olympiads, aiming to intensify scientific discussion and collaboration among competitors from various countries.

In the International Group Project 2020, there are 50 research teams, and every team consists of 4 to 7 competitors, all representing different countries. In each team, these young biologists collaborated with their international fellows in a three-month scientific project. Finally, they had to propose a professional poster or presentation about an outstanding, innovative idea that can determine biology's future and solve a critical global issue.[5] Every performance was evaluated by noble professors of Japan in life science.

Altogether, 53 countries and 202 contestants participated in the International Group Project 2020. This project was described as "the first trial of a collaborative research opportunity in IBO's history."[3] Among 50 teams, six outstanding teams had (25 students) received the Award of Excellence for the best performance.[6]

Summary

Each year, the IBO is organised by a different country.[7][8]

No. Year City Country Date Participating countries
11990Olomouc CzechoslovakiaJuly 1–76
21991Makhachkala Soviet UnionJuly 1–79
31992Poprad CzechoslovakiaJuly 6–1212
41993Utrecht NetherlandsJuly 4–1115
51994Varna BulgariaJuly 3–1018
61995Bangkok ThailandJuly 2–922
71996Artek UkraineJune 30–July 723
81997Ashgabad TurkmenistanJuly 13–2028
91998Kiel GermanyJuly 19–2633
101999Uppsala SwedenJuly 4–1136
112000Antalya TurkeyJuly 9–1638
122001Brussels BelgiumJuly 8–1538
132002Jurmala and Riga LatviaJuly 7–1440
142003Minsk BelarusJuly 8–1641
152004Brisbane AustraliaJuly 11–1840
162005Beijing ChinaJuly 10–1750
172006Rio Cuarto ArgentinaJuly 9–1648
182007Saskatoon CanadaJuly 15–2249
192008Mumbai IndiaJuly 13–2055
202009Tsukuba JapanJuly 12–1956
212010Changwon South KoreaJuly 11–1858
222011Taipei TaiwanJuly 10–1758
232012Singapore SingaporeJuly 8–1559
242013Bern  SwitzerlandJuly 14–2162
252014Bali IndonesiaJuly 6–1361
262015Aarhus DenmarkJuly 12–1962
272016Hanoi VietnamJuly 17–2468
282017Coventry United KingdomJuly 23–3064
292018Tehran IranJuly 15–2268
302019Szeged HungaryJuly 14–2172
312020Nagasaki JapanDue to the COVID-19 pandemic, replaced by a remotely conducted competition, the IBO Challenge 2020,[2] and a group-based scientific project, the International Group Project.[9] The whole competition was operated from August 11–24.47 in both competitions (+5 in only the International Group Project)
322021Lisbon PortugalDue to the COVID-19 pandemic, replaced by a remotely conducted competition, the IBO Challenge II.[10][11] The whole competition was operated from July 18–23.72
332022Yerevan ArmeniaJuly 10–1862
342023Al Ain United Arab EmiratesJuly 3–1176
352024Astana KazakhstanJuly 7–14
362025Quezon City PhilippinesJuly 13–20
372026Vilnius LithuaniaJuly 12–19
382027 Uzbekistan
392028 Netherlands
402029 Czech Republic

See also

References
  1. "IBO is an association of national biology competitions from countries and regions". International Biology Olympiad. Retrieved 2020-09-26.
  2. "Regarding COVID-19". IBO2020 Nagasaki. 2020-03-06. Archived from the original on 2020-03-26. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  3. "THE VIRTUAL IBO CHALLENGE 2020 WAS A GREAT SUCCESS". International Biology Olympiad. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  4. "51st International Physics Olympiad". ipho-unofficial.org. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  5. "International Group Project". IBO2020 Nagasaki. 2020-04-24. Archived from the original on 2021-01-18. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
  6. "Group Project Results". IBO2020 Nagasaki. 2020-12-19. Archived from the original on 2021-01-18. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
  7. "Past IBOs". International Biology Olympiad. Retrieved 2023-07-29.
  8. "Future IBOs". International Biology Olympiad. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  9. "International Group Project". International Biology Olympiad Nagasaki 2020. 24 April 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-01-18. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
  10. "IBO Challenge 2021: Event website & registration deadlines due end of March".
  11. "Welcome to IBO2021 – IBO 2021".
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