Indian students are lords of the Olympiad ring

When and where on earth can you see the longest sunrise? And how long can you see it? Stumped? Well, then, sample another. What would you see from the moon more often: the sun or the earth?

A five-member team of 14-to-17-year olds will hone their skills over the next 10 days to unravel a few more secrets that the skies hold.

Their aim: to win as many medals as possible at the International Astronomy Olympiad that kicks off in Beijing on October 25.

It will not be an easy task — they will be up against competition from over 70 countries — but Indian students have proved in the past that they can do it.

Every team representing India at the international physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics and astronomy Olympiads over the past five years has unfailingly returned with medals.

"This is different from other examinations because of its practical aspect; the fact that our students have done well despite active participation in the Olympiads only in 1998 says how good the programme is," said Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education centre director Arvind Kumar.

The Olympiads, with their emphasis on practical and analytical aspects, stretch the students' mental faculties to the maximum.

And no learning by rote here, it is all about how well you understand a subject.

"Olympiads are about how well you understand a subject. Leading scientists come down to conduct lectures and practicals," Indian Association of Chemistry Teachers general secretary D V Prabhu, involved with the chemistry Olympiad for the past six years, said.

Deepak Garg, who bagged a silver medal at the 1999 International Chemistry Olympiad and went up to the national-level test for the maths Olympiad in 1998, vouches for the two-week preevent training.

Garg, now doing his Ph.D in computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, said: "The programme was a big help because it covered experimental chemistry, which was something I had not done earlier."

Mumbai may be the hub but the Olympiads have been generating considerable buzz in Kota, Rajasthan.

The large number of coaching classes attract their share of IIT-JEE aspirants to this tiny town; they often end up having a shot at the Olympiads as well.

"The training for IIT-JEE helps in the Olympiads too," Indian Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT) chief coordinator R N Dharkar said. IAPT conducts the first round of examination for the science Olympiads.

"Both the IIT-JEE and Olympiads test students’ problem-solving and analytical abilities. Students who are good at these do well at both," Kumar said.

"But the Olympiads were not meant to be another practice pad for cracking the IIT-JEE. That many students who do well in this (Olympiads) go on to the IIT defeats the very purpose of this programme," said 17-year-old Puneite Abhishek Dang.

A gold medallist at the International Astronomy Olympiad and bronze-winner at the International Mathematics Olympiad last year, he is taking the road less travelled.

"As far as I am concerned, I am sticking to pure sciences. In all probability, I will take up mathematics," he said determindedly.

"Our Olympiad programme has succeeded in improving the quality of science education. But the dream of seeing students pursue careers in pure sciences instead of applied sciences still remains unfulfilled ," Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education’s Kumar said. (Newspaper in Education is the student edition of The Times of India.)

The National Olympiad Programmes involve examinations at the secondary and higher secondary level that lead to participation in the International Olympiads.

The exams test a student's analytical and problemsolving skills. Students at the secondary and higher secondary level are eligible to participate. Schools which are certified centres are intimated by the nodal body. Exams for the first qualifying round are mostly held in November.

Step 1 : The National Standard Examination (NSE) in physics, chemistry, biology and astronomy are conducted by the Indian Association of Physics Teachers and the Indian Association of Chemistry Teachers, and the Regional Mathematics Olympiad is conducted by the National Board of Higher Mathematics. You have to be under 19 years of age and must be studying in class XI or XII for the mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology Olympiads; for the astronomy Olympiad, you must be between 14 and 16 years of age.

Step 2: 250 toppers each from NSE in physics, chemistry and biology and 300 toppers from astronomy qualify for the Indian National Olympiads. For mathematics, a certain number of students are picked from each region.

Step 3: 25-50 toppers from each of the subjects qualify for the International Olympiad training camps held at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, TIFR, Mumbai. Top five students from physics and astronomy, top four from chemistry and biology and top six from mathematics represent the country in the International Olympiads.

Pune claims a major share of the Olympiad pie, especially the mathematics Olympiad, thanks to the Bhaskaracharya Pratishthan there. The town's poor showing at the Olympiads in the past disappointed the brains behind this private trust, set up for research in maths, but also steeled their resolve to do something better.

Though the trust has been training Olympiad aspirants since 1989, it was left to IIT alumnus M Prakash to think up something to put Pune on the International Mathematics Olympiad map.

He hit gold with his Gold-2002 project; Pune had three berths in the Olympiad team and one gold from the competition. The institute, since then, has been conducting classes for students from Pune and vacation batches for students from other parts of Maharashtra.

Sixteen-year-old Asilata Bapat, who trained at the Pratishthan for over two years, reached the final stage of the 2004 National Mathematics Olympiad and bagged a gold at the 2003 International Astronomy Olympiad. She is in the team for the International Astronomy Olympiad this year as well. "The Olympiads were not on my mind when I went to the Pratishthan. But what I learned there still comes in handy," she said.

Seventeen-year-old Piyush Srivastava, a gold medallist at the 2005 International Physics Olympiad, also ranked first in the IIT-JEE and the AIEEE. TOI chatted him up.

A: I have always loved physics and maths. I studied on my own for the Olympiads but help from school teachers in the form of books and test papers was always there.

A: The training camp gave me a clear picture of the experimental aspect of physics. It told me what to expect at the Olympiad.

A: I love physics but I have always been more interested in its application in daily life. That was the reason I always wanted to get into IIT.

Please inform all your friends and teams that - ….
The results of various Science ( Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics ) Olympiads are out.

Except in Physics Olympiad, Indian students did not do great in others.

see the results at http://zookeepersblog.wordpress.com/results-2008-science-olympiads/

Please paste the above link in various blogs / sites.

Thanks and Regards
Subhashish

—
There is no Tax in Happiness and Imagination.....

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Imagination is more important than knowledge - Albert Einstein

2009 IPho, IChO, IBO, IMO, APhO ( Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Asian Physics Olympiad ) International science Olympiad resultsare given at

http://zookeepersblog.wordpress.com/results-2009-science-olympiads/

Thanks
Subhashish chattopadhyay the zookeeper

The following Mathematics and Physics Videos are available for you FREE at the links
at http://zookeepersblog.wordpress.com/iit-jee-ipho-apho-physics-mathematics-videos-for-std-9-to-12/
These explain tricky Physics and Mathematics Numericals.
Eventually Prof. Subhashish will try to give Videos for full course here for you.
These covers PU ( Pre University courses, school / college ) courses, IIT JEE, AIEEE ( All India Engineering Entrance Examination ) , CET ( Combined Engineering Test ), AIPMT ( All India Pre Medical Test ), ISc ( Intermediate Science / Indian School Certificate Exam ), CBSE ( Central Board Secondary Exam ), Roorkey Joint Entrance Test Questions ( Discontinued since 2002 ), APhO ( Asian Physics Olympiad ), IPhO ( International Physics Olympiad ), IMO ( International Mathematics Olympiad ) , NSEP ( National Standard Exam in Physics ), RMO ( Regional Math Olympiad , India ), INMO ( Indian National Maths Olympiad ), Irodov Solutions, Prof. H C Verma ( Concepts of Physics ) Solutions etc.
( You can see the history of Indian Participation in various Olympiads at -> http://zookeepersblog.wordpress.com/indian-participation-in-ipho-icho-ibo-and-astronomy-olympiad/ )

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