At the 20th International Biological Olympiad (IBO) that concluded in Japan on Sunday, India finished with a haul of four medals, including one gold, two silver and a bronze. A team of four Indian students, who participated in the week-long IBO held at Tsukuba in Japan, were among the 220 brightest students across the globe from 56 countries, National co-ordinator, Science Olympiads, told Professor Vijay Singh.
He told that the Indian team was led by Professor Purushottam Gopalkrishna Kale of Ramniranjan Jhunjhunwala College, Mumbai, and Professor Madan Mohan Chaturvedi, University of Delhi, Delhi Professor Anindya Sinha, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore went as a scientific observer. Singh said that the four students were selected via a three-tier procedure at the national level.
The first-tier consisted of a nation wide examination in Biology in which over 8, 200 students appeared. This exam is conducted with the help of Indian Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT) and Indian Association of Teachers in Biological Sciences (IATBS), told Singh. The remaining two-tiers consisted of a series of difficult selection tests both theoretical and practical. The effort is supported by the Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Science and Technology and the ministry of Human Resource Development. The nodal centre for these activities is the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE) located in Mumbai.
