All six Taiwanese participants in the 20th International Junior Science Olympiad, which was held in Thailand and ended yesterday, won gold medals, which put Taiwan in first place at the competition.
A total of 304 students from 54 countries and regions participated in the olympiad this year, with Taiwan sending two students each from three different junior-high schools. The Taiwanese team included Wu Ssu-chien (吳思謙) and Yan Tzu-chiao (顏子喬) from Taipei Municipal Chien Kuo High School; Chan Wei-chun (詹緯濬) and Lai Ching-yu (賴敬宇) from Taipei Municipal Dunhua Junior High School, and Hung Ching-cheng (洪靖承) and Su Cheng-hsuan (蘇程玹) from Tainan Municipal Jian Sing Junior High School.
Yan also scored highest overall among all participants in the competition.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Education
Commenting on the win, Yan said he was driven by his interest in science, and said that personal interest in the subject was key to his success. Reading instructions carefully and not rushing is also very important, he said.
The members of Taiwan’s team were chosen by a selection committee and coached by National Taiwan Normal University professors Lu Chia-jung (呂家榮), Lu Kuo-tung (呂國棟), Chang Yung-ta (張永達) and Fu Tzu-yi (傅祖怡), and assistant professor Liu Yi-hsin (劉沂欣). The team flew to Bangkok for the competition on Nov. 30, and returned on Wednesday.
The six students would each receive a recommendation for entrance to a top high school or junior college, as well as receiving a NT$200,000 scholarship, Ministry of Education official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said.
Taiwan has participated in the Olympiad every year it was held since 2004, and to date has won 97 gold medals, 17 silver medals and two special awards for individual student experiments. It has also won two gold medals, one silver medal and two bronze medals for group experiments, 12 best theory awards, nine highest total score awards and has been ranked as the top country or region in the competition 12 times.
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