A schoolboy from Samara won silver at the International Mendeleev Olympiad in Chemistry | 04/26/2024 | Samara

It took place in Shenzhen, China. It was organized by the Melnichenko Foundation and the Faculty of Chemistry of Moscow State University.

Photo: courtesy of the organizing committee of the International Mendeleev Olympiad

In total, over 200 schoolchildren from 29 countries of the world took part in the 58th Mendeleev Olympiad (MMO). Russia was represented at the competition by ten guys from different regions of the country. Five young scientists won gold medals. The same amount is silver. Including Lev Avvakumov from Samara.

– In the year of the 190th anniversary of Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev, this shows the power of the national scientific school, the continuity of generations of scientists, and the preservation of the best traditions in personnel training. I am confident that the winners of the Olympiad will continue their march to the heights of scientific success,” said MSU Rector Academician Viktor Sadovnichy.

Separately, he congratulated the coaches of the Russian national team:

“We have once again demonstrated our status as the bearer of the gold standard in chemical education, which helps us achieve success both at the largest international scientific tournaments and in the profession.”

Representatives of the Chinese national team also became laureates of the 1st and 2nd degrees of the Academician Valery Lunin Prize. They collected seven top awards. Young researchers from Kazakhstan, Vietnam and Bulgaria also showed good results.

“It’s very pleasing that there are many different countries among the medalists, although in general representatives of Russia and China dominated,” Alexander Gladilin, chairman of the international jury of MMO-58, professor of the Faculty of Chemistry of Moscow State University, described the course of the competition. – But this year Bulgaria, which has traditionally won many silver medals in recent years, reached gold. Kazakhstan is in approximately the same situation. We can say that here quantity has turned into quality. And the team from Vietnam got off to a great start. We know that this is a strong team and expected a high result from them, although the format of the Mendeleev Olympiad is not very familiar to them yet.

Additionally, the importance of the international status of the competition of young chemists was emphasized by the General Director of the Melnichenko Foundation and co-chair of the MMO-58 organizing committee Tatyana Zhuravleva:

– The Olympics help overcome barriers and build bridges. We continue to support her. We attach great importance to both helping talented schoolchildren and expanding global cooperation between non-profit organizations. Especially from BRICS+ countries.

She spoke in more detail about her organization’s work in this direction:

– We initiated the creation of the League of Foundations, which is designed to establish horizontal connections between non-profit organizations from different countries. This will help organize joint scientific research on the most pressing global issues, exchange experiences and best practices, and scale successful projects. The International Mendeleev Olympiad has undoubtedly already become one of the pillars of this work.

At the same time, Stepan Kalmykov, Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Sciences and scientific director of the Faculty of Chemistry of Moscow State University, recalled that many members of the jury had previously participated in the IMO themselves.

“Round tables, mini-conferences and introductions to best practices during the Olympiad help develop and enrich specialized education around the world,” Kalmykov added. – We welcome both strong teams that create healthy competition, and those who are just learning the complexities of top-level Olympiad chemistry.

For the first time, the Mendeleev Olympiad took place within the walls of the joint Russian-Chinese University MSU-PPI in China in the city of Shenzhen. The new competition site for 2025 will be announced in the near future, said Stepan Kalmykov.

share:

• Artem Elekin