Baku awards prominent young chemists of world (VIDEO)
By Nigar Orujova
The Chinese team has boisterously won the 47th International Chemistry Olympiad in Baku.
The Chemistry Olympiad, organized by Baku Branch of Lomonosov Moscow State University, had been underway in Azerbaijan from July 20 to 29. The IChO 2015 gathered 300 young chemists from 75 countries of 5 continents, as well as over 250 professional chemists, experts, professors, supervisors, and team leaders.
“We have together ended the intense, exciting and ever-changing week, which was full of different shades. What have we learned during this week?” President of the 47th Chemistry Olympiad and Rector of Baku Branch of Moscow State University Nargiz Pashayeva addressed the participants of the IChO 2015 closing ceremony.
“We have learned that life is really a huge lab, as we have written in our motto. And we have witnessed again that the most expensive and the only irreplaceable instrument of this lab is a human brain. And we have found out that human is the catalyst of all processes, going on the Earth,” she stressed.
The president noted that the young scientists are on the right path. “Your choice is science, your choice is chemistry. And I want you to be loyal to this choice of yours.”
The future of chemistry
The Chinese team won the top spot in the competition. Yifu Ouyang was named the absolute winner, or the best theoretician, and awarded the gold medal.
Ouyang said the IChO was a great event and was a wonderful experience. “All that I can advise to the participants of the next Olympiad is to not be so nervous and try not to think about things from before. When I’ve finished my practical exam I just simply let it go and did my best in the next exam and got this victory.”
The best experimenter title went to David I-Hsuan Wang from the United States. Scott Xiao from Canada earned silver in the category, while Latvian Edgars Kletnieks received bronze.
The Azerbaijani team was represented by Dilgam Ahmadli, Sergey Styopin, Huseyn Babayev, and Ruslan Mammadov. Styopin and Babayev each won bronze medals at the Olympiad.
Styopin said the results were not bad, but he unfortunately missed silver by just a couple of points.
At the closing ceremony, Duckhwan Lee, the chair of the IChO Steering Committee and professor of Chemistry and Science Communications at Sogang University in Seoul, Korea said, “For students, the tasks happened to be a bit difficult. But you are not supposed to solve easy tasks. Easy tasks are not for you. You have a responsibility to deal with hard ones.”
Lee stressed that it was a phenomenal Olympiad. “The best one in 12 years I witnessed and participated in my life,” he added.
“It was also a great opportunity for us to appreciate the beauty of Azerbaijan. It was a great pleasure for all of us to have a chance to experience the wonderful city of Baku, wonderful competition, rich and various landscape, historical and cultural heritage and the generosity and hospitality of the people at Baku Branch of Moscow State University and everyone in the street. It was a great pleasure for us to be here in Baku, Azerbaijan. We will keep these in our memory for a long time,” he said.
The chair praised Rector Nargiz Pashayeva as a good manager and organizer not only for her own University, but also for this wonderful international event that brought together over 500 people from all over the world. “It was a very complicated event but she was able to manage it in a really wonderful and professional way.”
IChO at Baku Branch of Moscow State University
The teaching staff at the University, under Rector Nargiz Pashayeva, helped strictly monitor and supervise the tremendous event.
The participants’ level of knowledge was tested in the classes and laboratories of Baku Branch of Moscow State University by experimental and theoretical exams. Students attempted to solve tasks requiring original and non-standard approaches in a matter of 5 hours.
The participants that came to Baku to take part in this great science competition enjoyed the state-of-the-art facilities of the Baku Branch of Moscow State University, featuring laboratories equipped with the latest technology and brand new equipment.
During their stay in the Azerbaijani capital, participants were given tours of Baku and the national museums of the city.
The international jury, comprised of two representatives of each participating country, discussed and evaluated the participants’ exam answers.
The decision to hold the 47th International Chemistry Olympiad in Azerbaijan was made in 2012 in Washington. Azerbaijan is the second country in the CIS after Russia to host the International Chemistry Olympiad.
The 47th Chemistry Olympiad is held with support from the Azerbaijani Education Ministry, Ministry of Youth and Sports, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan, and the Heydar Aliyev Center.
The next International Chemistry Olympiad will be held in Karachi, Pakistan, in 2016. The flag of the IChO was handed over to Pakistan at a farewell party for the 47th IChO in Baku.
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Nigar Orujova is AzerNews’s staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @o_nigar
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