Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday called on young scientists to make the world a better place at the opening ceremony of the Fourth International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO) in Taipei.
In an age of globalization, scientists should "break through the walls" of their labs and "join the international team across oceans and continents to better the lives of humankind," she said.
Lu said that scientific discoveries should aim to tackle challenges such as global warming, disease and poverty.
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES
The IJSO, which tests students' knowledge of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and earth sciences, is the only international science competition targeted at teenagers under 16 years old.
The competition was initiated in 2004 to instill students with a lifelong passion for science, to inspire them to choose scientific careers and to form a global network for young scientists early in their careers so they could collaborate with one another in the future, Masno Ginting, IJSO's Indonesian founder and first president, said.
This year's event is being cohosted by the Ministry of Education and National Science Council and has 204 participants from 39 countries including Taiwan, the UK, Germany, Russia and Indonesia.
Each team will take a three hour theoretical test and a multiple choice test, and undertake a four hour experimental examination, IJSO president and National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) professor Yeh Ming-Chang (葉名倉) said.
The tests were written by professors from National Taiwan University, National Tsing-hua University and NTNU, and will be given to participants in their native languages, Yeh said, adding that evaluations will be done by an international panel of judges.
The youngest participant this year is 13-year-old Joris Dolderer from Germany, who qualified for last year's competition but was turned down because he was too young, Dolderer's teacher told the media.
Taiwan's representatives include Taipei's Jianguo High School sophomore Yang Chen (楊震), Taipei's Chin-hwa Junior High School 9th-grader Ku Po-yun (辜柏耘), Taipei County's Yong-ho Junior High School ninth-grader Chen Yu-an (陳昱安), Taichung Municipal Chu-jen Junior High School ninth-grader Huang Chao-wei (黃朝煒) and Tainan Jian-sing Junior High School ninth-grader Yang Hung-yu (楊泓翊).
The team began preparations for the competition in June.
"What we feel most pressured about isn't the competition, but how we can establish good relationships with representatives from other countries," Ku said.
Lu encouraged Ku's team to bring Taiwan's impressive record since 2004 -- five golds and one silver each year -- to a new level.
She said that though there were only a limited number of medals, the experience would be a big step for all participants in their scientific lives.
"Some of you may go on and invent `the next big thing,' others will make the discovery of the century," Lu said, adding, "No matter what the future brings you, I urge you all to retain a sense of discovery, love for humankind and the drive to better the world with scientific breakthroughs and progress."
The Olympiad ends on Monday.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as