Regulations of the International Chemistry Olympiad (July 1994) =========== == === ============= ========= ======== 1. Aims of the Competition -- ---- -- --- ----------- The International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) is a competition for students with the aim of promoting international contacts in chemistry at secondary school level. It is intended to stimulate the activities of students interested in chemistry by way of independent and creative solving of chemical problems. The IChO competitions help to enhance friendly relations among young people from different countries; they encourage cooperation and international understanding. 2. Organization and Invitation -- ------------ --- ---------- The IChO is organized every year at the beginning of July in one of the participating countries by the Education Ministry or another appropriate institution of the organizing country (hereafter referred to as the organizer). The organizer is obliged to ensure equal participation of all the delegations, and to invite all countries participating in previous IChO competitions. Additionally, it has the right to invite other countries on agreement with the organizers of two forthcoming IChOs. A country must send observers to two consecutive Olympiads before it can participate in an IChO. The invitation to participate in the forthcoming IChO should be sent to countries by the November preceeding the competition and must contain information concerning the place and dates of the competition. The invited countries must confirm their participation in the IChO by the end of the following January. 3. Delegations -- ----------- Each participating country's delegation consists of four competitors and two accompanying persons (also known as mentors). The competitors must be students of secondary school age, who have not specialized in chemistry. The competitors must be passport holders of the country they represent or they took part in the education system of this country for more than one academic year. All participating students in the competition must be under the age of 20 at the 1st of July in the year of the competition. Training or any other special instruction, that is carried out for a selected group, of 50 or fewer, containing the IChO team must be no longer than two weeks. The mentors act as members of the International Jury (see Section 4). One mentor is designated as the head of delegation. Mentors must be capable of translating the text of competition tasks from English into the mother tongue of the students and be able to judge the set of tasks and correct the work of their students. At the discretion of the organizers, countries may include one observer in their delegation. Countries that are invited by the organizer, and intend to take part in future Olympiads, may send one observer. 4. International Jury -- ------------- ---- The International Jury consists of the Chair, the Secretary of the IChO and the two mentors from the individual delegations. The Chair is nominated by the organizer. The Chair calls and chairs the meeting of the International Jury. Resolutions are passed by the International Jury when they are agreed by a single majority of votes in the presence of at least 75% of the Jury members. Each participating country has one vote. The Chair has a casting vote in the event of a tie. The decisions of the International Jury are binding. The long term work involved in organizing the Olympiads is coordinated by the Secretariat of the International Chemistry Olympiad, which is headed by the Secretary of IChO. The Secretariat reports to the International Jury and has no right to make any decisions. The seat of the Secretariat is in the country where the Secretary is resident until decided otherwise by the International Jury. The International Jury elects members of the Steering Committee of the IChO. The Steering Committee provides organizational oversight for the IChO and proposes items for consideration at the jury sessions. The Steering Committee has no right to make any decisions about the IChO. There are three ex-officio members of the Steering Committee: Chair of the current IChO; Chair of the immediate past IChO; Chair of the immediate future IChO. The Committee consists of following elected members: The IChO secretary (to serve for a three year term); representatives of a variety of geographical areas to serve a two year term (3 from Europe, 1 from Americas, 1 from Pacific Rim); and 1--3 members to be selected by the Steering Committee for their particular expertise for periods of one year. Members are elected (for no more than two consecutive terms) by full jury vote. The Steering Committee elects its own Chair. The International Jury may form working groups to solve specific chemistry related problems of the IChO. This working group should draw its membership from IChO participating countries and those interested in IChO competitions. The working groups meet for working sessions and submit the results of the deliberations to the Steering Committee. There is an Information Office of IChO, gathering and providing (when necessary) all the documentation of the IChOs from the very beginning of the Olympiad to the present. The seat of the Office is in Bratislava, Slovakia. 5. Responsibilities of the International Jury -- ---------------- -- --- ------------- ---- The International Jury: (i) is in charge of the actual competition and its supervision according to the regulations; (ii) discusses in advance the competition tasks presented by the organizer, their solutions and the marking guidelines, gives comments and decides in case of changes. The members of the International Jury are obliged to maintain professional discretion about any relevant information they receive during the IChO and must not assist any participant; (iii) supervises the marking of the examination papers and guarantees that all participants are judged by equal criteria. The members of the International Jury keep the marking and results secret until proclaimed by the Jury; (iv) determines the winners and decides on prizes and documents for the competitors; (v) monitors the competition and suggests changes to the regulations, organization and contents for future IChOs. 6. Competition -- ----------- The competition consists of two parts. Part one, the practical (experimental) competition takes place before part two, the theoretical competition. A working time of four or five hours is allotted for each part. There is at least one day of rest between the two parts. Competitors receive all the relevant information written in the language of their choice and are allowed to write the solutions in that language. Only non-programmable calculators may be used for the solution of the tasks. The safety regulations announced by the organizer are binding for all participants (see Section 13). 7. Official Language -- -------- -------- The working language of the International Jury is English. 8. Tasks -- ----- The organizer is responsible for the preparation of competition tasks by competent experts/authors, who constitute the Scientific Board of the IChO. They propose the methods of solution and the marking scheme. The tasks, their solutions and the marking schemes are submitted to the International Jury for consideration and approval. The authors of the tasks should be present during the discussion. The Chair of the International Jury may put the Chair of the Scientific Board in charge of the proceedings when the tasks are considered. One year in advance of the competition the organizer distributes to all participating countries a set of about 50 preparatory tasks written in English. The preparatory tasks must be devised so that students can get a good idea of the type and difficulty of the competition tasks, including safety aspects (see Section 13 and Appendix B). According to Appendix C topics of group 3 must be covered in the preparatory problems. SI units must be used throughout the tasks. 9. Correcting and Marking -- ---------- --- ------- A maximum of 60 points is allocated to the theoretical tasks and 40 points to the practical tasks, making a total of 100 points. Consequential marking should be used when correcting the tasks so that students are not punished twice for the same error. The competition tasks are corrected independently by the authors and by the mentors. The International Jury discusses the results and decides on the final scores. The organizer retains the original marked manuscripts. 10. Results and Prizes --- ------- --- ------ Official results of the competition and the number of medals awarded are decided by the International Jury. The number of gold medals awarded is in the range of 8% to 12%, silver 18% to 22%, and bronze medals 28% to 32% of the total number of competitors. The exact number of medals is decided by the International Jury on the basis of an anonymous review of the results. In addition to the medals other prizes may be awarded. Each participant receives a certificate of participation. No team classification takes place. In the awarding ceremony, the non-medallists are called in alphabetical order of the countries. A ``Honourable Mention'' is awarded to students who do not receive a medal, but gain full marks for any one problem. The organizer must provide a complete list of results as a part of the final report. 11. Obligations of the Organizer --- ----------- -- --- --------- The organizer provides: (i) the itinerary of the IChO; (ii) the organization of the competition following the regulations; (iii) the medals, certificates and prizes, which are presented at the official closing ceremony; (iv) translation and interpreting facilities; (v) arrangement for the observance of the safety regulations; (vi) accident insurance for all participants in connection with the organized programme; (vii) the opportunity for the International Jury to inspect the working room and practical apparatus to be used for the practical tasks before the competition takes place; (viii) a printed report on the competition to be distributed not later than six months after the competition; (ix) transportation from/to an airport decided by the host country on the day of arrival and departure. 12. Financing --- --------- The participating country covers the return travel costs of the students and the accompanying persons to the designated airport or the place at which the competition is held. All other costs in connection with the organized programme, including the costs of accommodation and pocket money for all competitors and members of the International Jury, are covered by the organizer. The organizer of the next Olympiad may send two observers to the current IChO with their expenses covered by the host. 13. Safety --- ------ During the experimental part, the competitors must wear laboratory coats and eye protection. The competitors are expected to bring their own laboratory coats. Other means of protection for laboratory work are provided by the organizer. Pipetting by mouth is strictly forbidden. When handling liquids, each student must be provided with a pipet ball or filler. The use of very toxic substances (designation T+) is strictly forbidden. The use of toxic substances (designation T) is not recommended, but may be allowed if special precautions are taken. Substances belonging to the categories R 45, R 46, R 47 must not be used under any circumstances. (See Appendix B for definitions of these categories.) The organizer shall provide a list of chemicals from which the chemicals used in practical preparatory and competition tasks will be drawn. The list of chemicals must include information of the maximum amounts of materials needed or in the case of solutions their maximum concentrations. Any hazardous materials on the list must be accompanied by detailed instructions for safe handling. The list must be provided --- together with the preparatory tasks (see Section 8) --- one year in advance. Each participating country has three months to file a substantiated dissent concerning the use of a special chemical. Silence indicates acceptance. The organizer should try to revise the list in order to satisfy any objections. The final revision of the list will be distributed to the delegation leaders at the start of the Olympiad. Detailed recommendations involving students' safety and the handling and disposal of chemicals can be found in Appendix A 1: `Safety Rules for Students in the Laboratory' and Appendix A 2: `Safety Rules and Recommendations for the Host Country of the IChO'. Appendix B contains: B 1: Hazard Warning Symbols and Hazard Designations; B 2: R-Ratings and S-Provisions: Nature of special risks (R) and safety advice (S); B 3: Explanation of Danger Symbols (for use of chemicals in schools); B 4: Basic List of Chemicals. 14. Final Regulations --- ----- ----------- Those who take part in the competition acknowledge these regulations through their very participation. Changes in these regulations can only be made by the International Jury and require a qualified majority (two thirds of the votes). These regulations of the IChO were approved by the International Jury in Oslo (Norway) on July 7, 1994.