Korean High School Students Sweep International Science Gifted Competition

Korea Ranks 1st Overall at European Physics Olympiad
Achieves 5th Overall at International Chemistry Olympiad

All students representing Korea at the European Physics Olympiad won gold medals, achieving first place overall. (Photo by Ministry of Science and ICT)

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Korean high school students achieved excellent results at the European Physics Olympiad and the International Chemistry Olympiad, competitions featuring the world's top young scientists.

On the 10th, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced that all five Korean representatives won gold medals at the 2020 European Physics Olympiad (EuPhO), held online from the 20th to the 26th of last month, securing first place overall in the medal rankings.

The competition featured 260 students from 57 countries. Despite Korea's urgent participation as a guest team due to schedule adjustments caused by COVID-19, all Korean representatives were awarded gold medals.

In the individual overall category, ▲Park Jung-eum (Gyeonggi Science High School, 3rd year) ranked 4th, ▲Kim Hee-chang (Seoul Science High School, 3rd year) ranked 6th, and five students placed within the top 20. Choi Hyun-min (Seoul Science High School, 3rd year) received a special award for the experimental problem (question 1).

The European Physics Olympiad scores are evaluated out of 50 points, combining 30 points from theory and 20 points from experiments. Both the theory and experimental tests last five hours each. This year, held online, the experimental test was conducted through simulation execution and analysis. The theory problems covered interactions between solenoids and circular loops, a mechanical accelerator using a fixed cylinder, and lens analysis modeling a cat's pupil, while the experimental problems involved Rutherford scattering and estimation of mechanical system characteristics.

Korean high school students who participated in the International Chemistry Olympiad achieved 5th place overall. (Photo by Ministry of Science and ICT)

At the 2020 International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO), the Korean team achieved 5th place overall. The competition was held from July 23 to 30, with 235 students from 60 countries (excluding 8 observer countries) participating. Korea tied for 5th place with Taiwan, earning 2 gold medals and 2 silver medals.

In this competition, Jeon Mu-gyeom (Seoul Science High School, 3rd year) and Hong Jun-ha (Seoul Science High School, 3rd year) won gold medals, while Park Jun-ha (Daegu Science High School, 3rd year) and Lee Min-jung (Daegu Science High School, 3rd year) won silver medals, with all Korean representatives receiving medals. Jeon Mu-gyeom ranked 2nd in the individual overall category. The event was originally scheduled to be held in Istanbul, Turkey, but was converted to an online competition due to COVID-19, and was conducted solely through theoretical exams without experimental tests.

The entire process?including problem presentation, international jury meetings, translation, evaluation, and grading?was conducted 100% online using the OIy-Exam system. During the exam, Zoom meetings were used for recording and real-time monitoring and supervision.

Kang Sang-wook, Director of the Future Talent Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Science and ICT, stated, “It is encouraging that despite the COVID-19 situation, our representatives competed and interacted with students worldwide, achieving excellent results. We will continue to support outstanding domestic students so they can grow into key talents leading the nation's basic science.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.