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Olympiad : International Biology : About Exam

 

Aim of Competition

The International Biological Olympiad (IBO) is a competition for secondary school students who are interested in biology. The sole purpose of this competition is:

  • to stimulate active interest in biological studies by the creative solution of biological problems,
  • to promote exchange of ideas and materials about biology education,
  • to promote regular international contacts between biology students,
  • to establish friendly relations among young people from different countries and thus to stimulate cooperation and understanding between nations.

International Biology Olympiad(IBO) Bodies

  1. The governing body of the IBO is the Board of the Coordinators that meets annually during each IBO competition. A country that sends students to compete in the IBO must appoint one coordinator to represent the country in this board. The Board of the Coordinators elects one of its members as a Chairperson of the Coordinators to chair its meeting, to represent the IBO in official functions and to keep up contacts with the Coordinating Center of the IBO about its activities. The Chairperson serves a four-year term and can be re-elected.
  2. The Coordinating Center of the IBO fulfils its activities in collaboration with the Chairperson of the Coordinators, the member countries and other organizations in accordance with the aims of the IBO. It organizes the annual IBO Advisory Board meeting and functions as the secretariat of the IBO . It is staffed by the Ministry of Education of the country where the Center is located.
  3. The IBO Advisory Board advises the Board of the Coordinators in maintaining high standards of IBO. The Board is chaired by the Chairperson of the Coordinators. It consists of representatives of the countries organizing the two previous and the two subsequent IBOs. It may also invite other experts as participants to its annual meeting to prepare recommendations and proposals for the Board of the Coordinators.
  4. An International Jury is an ad hoc committee formed for each IBO competition. It is chaired by a distinguished scientist appointed by the IBO organizer. Its members consist of 2 delegates or team leaders from each competing country.

Organization of Competition

  • The official languages of the IBO are English and Russian.
  • IBO takes place each year in July in one of the participating countries. IBO is organized by the Ministry of Education or by another analogous institution of the organizing country (only the term 'organizer' is used in the subsequent text).
  • The organizer of IBO ensures equal participation of all delegations and invites all countries accepted as members of the competition.
  • The organizer can invite, on the recommendation of the Coordinating Center , deputies from other countries as observers. These countries can be accepted as regular participants in the meeting of coordinators if they agree with all conditions listed in the Organization Rules.
  • The meeting of coordinators decides on acceptance of a country as a regular member of the competition after sending observers . A country which is not participating in two consecutive olympiads, or repeatedly does not behave in conformity with the IBO organization rules, will lose its membership of IBO.
  • Each country has to indicate within ten years after its first appearance in the competition when it will organize the IBO.
  • All principal questions regarding IBO are decided at the meeting of coordinators

Selection of topics for the Competition

  1. All disciplines of biology are acceptable for the IBO. More widely oriented topics should enable the competitors to exhibit not only their knowledge and skills, but also their ability to think independently and creatively.
  2. The scientific content of the theoretical and practical part of the competition has to follow recommendations contained in Appendix I (Content of the Theoretical Part of the IBO) and II (Basic Skills for the Practical Part of the IBO).
  3. In the practical part, no experiments should be carried out which cause deterioration of the living conditions of vertebrates. No handling of species protected by law in the host country or by UNESCO is allowed.

Coordinating Centre

  1. The Coordinating Center acts as a secretariat of the IBO. It has been established and it is situated at present at the Department Talentcentre of the Institute of Children and Youth of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Physical Training of the Czech Republic (IDM MSMT CR) in Prague.
    It fulfils the following functions:
    • it ensures information services for all participants and for the related international institutions (UNESCO, IUBS, etc),
    • it summons the IBO Advisory Board and the meeting of coordinators if necessary; ensures preparation and distribution of materials to these meetings,
    • it promotes contacts with other countries,
    • it coordinates the invitation of observers from other countries by the future host country,
    • it accumulates relevant documentation about the competition,
    • it registers and renews addresses of coordinators, their deputies, observers and of institutions taking part in the IBO,
    • it collects materials and information regarding the IBO and other biological competitions, including descriptions of national biology olympiads or similar competitions used to select IBO contestants,
    • it gathers textbooks and syllabuses of biology currently used in participating countries.
  2. Members of the Coordinating Center prepare individually or in collaboration with other IBO members specialized texts for the IBO.
  3. It presents a yearly report about its activities and the financial situation at the meeting of coordinators.

Coordinators

  1. The Ministry of Education or another representative institution of participating countries appoints one coordinator and one deputy for the IBO, both citizens of the country and informs the Coordinating Center about this representation and its duration by an official letter.
  2. The task of coordinators is to decide at their annual meetings about the principal questions of the IBO and to ensure requirements of the competition in accordance with recommendations for the theoretical and practical part.
    Decisions of the Board of Coordinators are taken on the basis of majority votes, in the presence of at least 75 per cent of the coordinators. In case of equal votes, the final decision is taken by the chairperson of the coordinators.
  3. Duties of the coordinators are as follows :
    • to take part in the meetings of coordinators,
    • to supply the Coordinating Center with current textbooks and syllabuses of biology and with information concerning the national competitions used to select IBO contestants,
    • to forward their questions for the theoretical part of the IBO to the organizing country by the end of January each year. Questions should be proposed in the English and/or Russian languages and prepared according to the principles of the Theoretical part of the IBO.
  4. Meetings of coordinators are summoned according to need, usually at time of IBO performance. The coordinators approve :
    • changes in the Organization Rules,
    • countries and cities organizing the forthcoming IBO(s),
    • countries, which will take part in the subsequent IBO as regular participants.
    • general direction and themes of the practical part for the next IBO

      Decisions are taken on the basis of majority votes, in the presence of at least 75 per cent of the coordinators. Each country has one vote. In case of equal votes, the final decision is taken by the chairperson of coordinators.
  5. A representative of the Coordinating Centre takes part in the coordinators' meeting without the right to vote. Defrayment of financial charges connected with the stay of the deputy of the Coordinating Centre is covered according to of the Organization Rules.
  6. Financial coverage of meetings of the Coordinators is provided according to of the Organization Rules.

Time-course of preparation of the Competition

  • The meeting of coordinators approves the organizing country at least two years ahead. The regular alternation of all organizing countries should be respected.
  • The Ministry of Education or corresponding institution of the organizing country sends at least one year ahead to the Coordinating Center its confirmation to accept the responsibility for the organization of the assigned IBO.
  • The general direction and themes of the practical part of IBO should be presented by the organizer a year before .
  • The Ministry of Education (or similar organization) of the organizing country sends an official invitation to Ministries of Education of all participating countries by the end of November of the preceding year at the latest. Respective copies should be sent to the Coordinating Center in Prague and to the coordinators of all invited countries.
  • The invited countries have to confirm their participation by the end of January each year
  • The organizer sends out the preparatory tasks written in the official languages to all invited countries in February or March.

Delegations and their members

  1. Each participating country fulfilling its duties according to the rules is allowed to send a delegation consisting of no more than four competitors and two representatives acting as team leaders, both citizens of the country concerned
    Only an official national team can be accepted for the competition.
  2. Participation in the IBO is restricted to competitors who
    • have been students of a secondary school for general education in the country concerned during at least two years preceding the IBO.
    • are the winners of the national BO of the current school year in their country
    • are not trained or instructed within a selected group of 50 or fewer students comprising the IBO team for a period longer than two weeks
    • have not participated already twice in the IBO
    • have not yet started study at university
      Competitors have to bring and sign a declaration confirming the points mentioned above.
  3. One of the accompanying representatives is the head of the delegation. Both representatives act as members of the International Jury.
  4. Accompanying representatives must be able to translate the text of the written competition questions from English or Russian to the students' native language, to evaluate competition tasks and to correct their solutions.

The Competition and the Competition Tasks

  • The competition consists of two parts, theoretical and practical (experimental) examinations. The recommended duration of each part is 4 to 6 hours with a break for refreshment. There should be at least one day interval between the two examinations.
  • The organizers are responsible for the preparation of the competition. The competition tasks are prepared by specialists who also indicate solutions and criteria of evaluation. All these materials become valid only when approved by the International Jury.
  • The competitors receive all tasks translated into their native language. Instruction about the testing procedure should be described clearly in the tasks itself, so no additional verbal instruction and/or explanation about the testing procedure is necessary during the test session.
  • Tests must be constructed so that in fulfilling the tasks students do not have to formulate any word, explanation or clarification in their native language.
  • The organizer announces beforehand all safety precautions, including health care. He is also responsible for providing all participants with basic laboratory and field facilities.

The International Jury

  • The International Jury consists of a chairperson and two representatives of all delegations. The chairperson is appointed by the organizing country.
  • The chairperson summons the members of the International Jury and directs their sessions. The International Jury decisions are taken on the basis of majority votes, in the presence of at least 75 per cent of the Jury members. In case of equal votes, the final decision is taken by the chairperson.
  • Rights and Duties of the International Jury:
    1. the International Jury is responsible for the course of the competition in accordance to the Organizational Rules;
    2. the International Jury discusses and approves, in advance, each competition topic submitted by the organizing country, the solution, and the scoring scheme for evaluation. In case of any suggestions, it makes decisions about necessary changes before the members of the International Jury translate the competition tasks into the students' native language;
    3. the International Jury has the right to check the procedure and results of the evaluation performed by the organizers. This includes verification of the marking process and inspection of the scores of the students. The International Jury keeps the results of the evaluation secret until the official final announcement,
    4. the International Jury approves the final results of the evaluation, confirms the ranking and decides about prizes and awards for the competitors;
    5. the International Jury members are obliged to keep secret all information about the competition tasks, results and evaluation until the official final announcement. They must not assist any of the participants during the competition;
    6. the International Jury has the right to exclude student(s) and team(s) from the current competition in the case of proved cheating.
  • The decision of the International Jury is final.

Duties of the Organizers

The organizers will ensure:

  • Presentation of the general direction and theme(s) of the practical part at the meeting of coordinators a year before the actual IBO.
  • Preparation and mailing of invitation letters (including announcement about financial contributions of participants and observers) and information on preparatory tasks of the IBO to all participating countries and to the Coordinating Center of the IBO.
  • Preparation of competition tasks, author's solution and marking of the individual results for the International Jury.
  • Material and other requirements necessary for the competition, in accordance with the approved Organization Rules.
  • The assistance of translators and interpreters during all IBO sessions.
  • Observation of secrecy and confidentiality during the competition and safety regulations of all competitors of IBO.
  • The supervision during the competition in cooperation with the International Jury.
  • The preparation of a final report including evaluation and statistical analysis of the results within one year after the competition.

Financial Expenses

  • The host country organizing the competition will expect each participating country to pay a participation fee. The amount of this fee will be proposed two years before and fixed one year before the actual IBO. This fee should be paid before or at the start of the IBO as requested by the organizers in an official letter, including information about the remittance procedure and about any financial consequences in the case of arriving earlier or departing later than scheduled by the organizers.
    In addition, each participating country has to pay the travel expenses of their competitors and accompanying persons to the competition site in the host country. All other expenses of persons listed in § 8 in accordance with the organization program, including the expenses for accommodation and board (3 meals per day a minimum) for delegation members and interpretation will be covered by the host country.
  • The expenses of observers and supernumerary accompanying members are to be covered by the delegating country. This fee is appointed by the organizers and specified in the invitation letter.
    The organizers of the two subsequent IBOs can send two additional observers providing that these two observers will belong to the official team organizing the future IBO with preferably one of them nominated as the president of the International Jury. The expenses of their stay will be settled in the same manner as for persons listed in § 8.
  • In order to fulfil its function, the Coordinating Center of the IBO will receive a yearly contribution of $ 200 from each country participating in the IBO, which should be paid before or at the start of an IBO competition as requested by the Coordinating Center in an official letter including information about the remittance procedure. Changes of the annual amount of this contribution can be settled a year ahead in the meeting of coordinators.

Conclusion

  • The countries taking part in the competition and all delegation leaders are obliged to observe the Organizing Rules previously specified.
    Countries repeatedly infringing the Rules without adequate explanation may be issued a warning and, if without effect, they will be suspended from the competition for at least one year.
  • Changes in these Organization Rules can be made only at a meeting of the coordinators of IBO, which become valid after the completion of the current IBO.
  • Any matter which is not included in the Organization Rules will be decided upon in the meeting of coordinators.

 
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