Four students competed in the 26th International Biology Olympiad (IBO), a global eight-day biology competition that started on July 12 in Aarhus, Denmark.

With 237 students from a total of 61 nations from around the world competing in the contest, the highest-scoring gold medal went to Seok Jin-hyeon, a student in the third grade of high school at the Seoul Science High School. This marked the second consecutive year that a Korean student took the first place.

A gold medal also went to Kim Min-jeong, a third-year high school student at Hana High School, while Im Seon-ho, also in the third year at the Gyeonggi Science High School, and Kim Min-su, a fourth-year student at the Daegu Science High School, both won silver medals. With two golds and two silvers, Korea as a whole came in fifth place this year.

The U.S. and China tied for the highest number of points as a whole, followed by Singapore and Taipei, which shared the No. 3 position.

The biology Olympiad, an annual event, pits science students worldwide against each other in the field of biology, allowing them to discover their talents and capabilities. Each participating nation sends to the competition four of its most-talented students under 20-years-old. They take tests on the theory of biology and undertake experiments during the competition.

Korean students attended for the first time at the ninth competition, held in Germany in 1998. Since then, Korea has been part of the biology Olympiad every year, and has finished in first place as many as four times.



“Amid the growing importance of having a preemptive response to such global issues as the development of the biotechnology industry, climate change and energy, we will continue to foster the excellent skilled workforce required in these sectors by holding international events like this,” said an official from the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.

By Sohn JiAe
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning
jiae5853@korea.kr