Ministry of Education Congratulates Students for Outstanding Performance at International Competitions

The Ministry of Education congratulates all students for their outstanding performance at the International Olympiads for Geography, Informatics, Mathematics and the Sciences, and the Online Young Physicists' Tournament¹, which were held virtually from June to August this year. Through a variety of online activities, students had the opportunity to connect with peers from all around the world who shared a common passion for the different subjects.

2. Singapore hosted the International Olympiad of Informatics (IOI) for the second year running in June this year. The event was organised by the National University of Singapore (NUS), with President Halimah Yacob as the guest-of-honour for the opening ceremony and Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat as the guest-of-honour for the closing ceremony. Minister of State for Education and Manpower Gan Siow Huang and Ambassador of Indonesia to Singapore His Excellency Suryo Pratomo were the guests-of-honour for the ceremonial handing over of the IOI flag to the next organiser, Indonesia.

International Geography Olympiad (iGeo)

3. The Singapore team won 3 Gold medals and 1 Bronze medal at the iGeo held from 11 to 15 August 2021. The competition consisted of written, multimedia and fieldwork tests. The students applied their knowledge across a wide range of physical and human geography topics, and carried out a virtual fieldwork of Istanbul, Turkey. Amongst 46 countries/territories and a total of 184 participants, Singapore placed 2nd and received the largest number of Gold medals in the competition. The team also came in 1st in the iGeo poster presentation, where participating teams shared their respective country/territory's responses to climate change.

33rd International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI)

4. The IOI was organised by NUS from 19 to 25 June 2021. Singapore's two teams clinched a total of 3 Gold medals, 2 Silver medals and 2 Bronze medals. During the competition, students faced challenging computational problems which tested their ability to design and implement efficient algorithms and data structures. One of the two Singapore teams placed joint 2nd among 88 countries/territories with 351 participants. This is Singapore's best performance in IOI to date.

*Refer to https://ioi2021.sg for more information on the IOI.

62nd International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO)

5. The Singapore team won 1 Gold medal, 3 Silver medals and 2 Bronze medals at the IMO held from 14 to 24 July 2021. The students were tasked to solve six challenging problems. Singapore placed 15th amongst 107 countries with 619 participants. Shevonne Chia, from NUS High School of Mathematics and Science, received the Maryam Mirzakhani Prize for Asia.

*Refer to https://imo2021.ru for more information on the IMO.

International Biology Olympiad (IBO) Challenge 2021

6. The Singapore team clinched 1 Gold medal and 3 Silver medals at the IBO Challenge 2021 held from 19 to 22 July 2021. The competition took the format of an online journey around the globe based on Fernão de Magalhães' Spanish expedition to the East Indies that resulted in the first circumnavigation of the Earth. The students made virtual stops at different parts of the world to pit their skills and knowledge against their peers across a myriad of topics, including ecology, cellular biology and biotechnology, and animal anatomy and physiology. Singapore placed joint 9th among 72 countries/territories with 279 participants.

*Refer to https://ibo2021.org for more information on the IBO.

53rd International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO)

7. The Singapore team secured 2 Gold medals and 2 Silver medals at the IChO held from 25 July to 2 August 2021. Students explored an interesting range of theoretical tasks, such as calculating the voltage of a zinc-air battery at the summit of Mount Fuji, and the synthesis of lineariifolianone, a natural product that can be obtained from Inula linariifolia used in traditional Chinese medicine. Students were also given the opportunity to participate virtually in practical task demonstrations, virtual tours to a radiation facility, and cultural virtual visits to Buddhist temples and Himeji castle. Singapore placed joint 6th among 79 countries/territories with 309 participants.

*Refer to https://www.icho2021.org for more information on the IChO.

51st International Physics Olympiad (IPhO)

8. The Singapore team won 2 Gold medals and 3 Silver medals at the IPhO held from 17 to 24 July 2021. Students were challenged in the experimental examination to use a custom-designed app interface to interpret data from hardware sensors in order to characterise the electronic properties of a complex circuit. In the theoretical examination, they were tasked to solve problems ranging from the propagation of seismic waves to applying quantum physics to dye molecules and Bose-Einstein condensates. They participated virtually in lectures as well as social activities including a dance and music workshop, a culinary workshop and a movie screening. Singapore placed 9th among 76 countries/territories with 368 participants.

*Refer to https://www.ipho2021.lt for more information on the IPhO.

Online Young Physicists' Tournament (OYPT) 2021

9. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Singapore team was unable to join the in-person 34th International Young Physicists' Tournament (IYPT) in Georgia. The Singapore team instead participated in the Online Young Physicist Tournament (OYPT) held from 16 to 19 July 2021. During the competition, participants solved complicated real-world physics problems, as well as communicated and defended their ideas through rigorous scientific research and discussions. Singapore's team had emerged 1st place among a total of 13 teams from 13 countries/territories.

Footnotes

1. Our students' participation in these international competitions is a joint effort between MOE and the following organisations: Singapore Mathematical Society; Singapore Institute of Biology; Institute of Physics, Singapore; DSO National Laboratories; Singapore National Institute of Chemistry; Geography Teachers’ Association of Singapore; National University of Singapore; and National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University.