2016.0802
Five Gold Medal Was Won by Taiwan International Physics Olympiad
The Taiwan team, trained by professors of NTNU, had a good showing at the 47th International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) 2016 in Switzerland, where five local students won gold medals among 398 competitors coming from 84 countries, which ranked Taiwan the third place in this competition. Competitor LU Chia-Hsuan won the Best Experiment in the IPhO. Only three countries received 5 golds, they are China, Korea and Taiwan.
Professor Jia Jhih-da of the Department of Physics of National Taiwan Normal University along with around a dozen other professors took charge of training the Taiwanese team. Team members were selected in four stages: a primary, a semi-final, a pre-game training camp, and a final competition. Nearly 2,700 students took part in the primary competition this year, and only five students were chosen to represent Taiwan. The Taiwanese team went to Zurich, Switzerland on July 9 to participate in the IPhO. The closing and award ceremonies were held on July 17 at the University of Zurich, where Einstein studied.
Taiwan has participated in the IPhO since 1994, and has performed very well each year. To date, Taiwan has won 55 gold, 21 silver, and 18 bronze medals and eight honor awards, which put Taiwan in fifth place for the last five years. The next IPho will be held in Indonesia and Taiwan will continue to keep up with the excellence performance.
To recognize students’ outstanding performance, the MOE formulated and issued special regulations. The Regulations for Preferred Status Admission to Institutions of Higher Education for Award Holders for the International Mathematics and Science Olympiads and International Science Fair stipulate that those who win gold, silver, or bronze medals in the IPhO can be automatically admitted into related university departments, or recommended for admission to any department. Additionally, those who win a gold medal will receive a 200,000 NT dollar scholarship; those who win a silver medal will receive a 100,000 NT dollar scholarship; and those who win a bronze medal will receive a 50,000 NT dollar scholarship. A student who wins two or more different awards during the same academic year can only apply for the most valuable scholarship he or she qualifies for.