Bulgarian junior geniuses travel to Britain for scientific challenge

Four Bulgarian students will arrive in Cambridge, UK to compete in this years prestigious International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO). Stefan Angelov, Martin Martinov, Yordan Georgiev and Dobri Dobrev will represent Bulgaria in the 41st IChO between the 19th and 26th of July.

They will be joined by 254 of the world's most promising young chemists from 65 other nations to face the ultimate test of their chemistry knowledge.

The IChO offers the students the opportunity to compete on an international platform, having proven themselves the very best in their respective countries.

In addition, the IChO allows student to meet fellow students who share a passion for chemistry from different nations. This is an important aspect of the competition as one of the founding principles of the unique initiative is to build academic bridges and encourage co-operation between different countries.

Although the first IChO was held 41 years ago with only three participating nations, it is now a truly international competition with over 60 countries competing regularly.

In the modern competition each country is allowed to bring 4 students to compete. The criterion for their participation is that they are yet to embark upon university education and they also have to be under the age of 20; the youngest participant this year is just 14 years old. Students often undergo highly competitive regional and national selection procedures to compete in the IChO.

The competition comprises of two five hour examinations. The first is an experimental exam and the second a theoretical exam. The tests will take place on two separate days.

Prizes are awarded to the top scoring students in these examinations. The top 10% receive gold medals, the following 20% are awarded silver medals and the subsequent 30% are awarded bronzes.

Competitors will also have the opportunity to meet a number of world-renowned scientists. Examples of which are Professor Harold Kroto who was awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of a new allotrope of carbon, Buckminsterfullerene. They will also meet Professor Sir Alan Battersby who was awarded The Royal Society's oldest prize for scientific achievement, The Copley medal, in 2000 for his pioneering research on Vitamin B-12.

The students will also have time to socialise and a number of excursions have been planned to allow them to sample British culture and form friendships with other participants.

The IChO continues to be an important event and allows students to compete at the highest level. A former IChO participant and now organiser of the 2009 IChO Dr Peter Wothers from the University of Cambridge says: 'Being obsessed with chemistry from the age of eight, I spent many hours in my home lab. However, the obsession paid off when I was selected as an 18 year old to represent the United Kingdom at the 20th International Chemistry Olympiad, the IChO. I vividly remember my experience as a student, meeting other young chemists from all round the world. I am still in touch with some of them who are now lecturers or professors in their own countries.

'It is the challenge of testing yourself against the best students from so many different countries, from Azerbaijan to Vietnam, that makes this experience so unique.'

Professor Dave Garner, President of the Royal Society of Chemistry said: 'It is excellent to see this very large-scale international competition come to the UK and to the University of Cambridge as hosts, because of the world reputation of the university which has been such a major player in science in epoch-making ways. We think that the youngsters being hosted there will have some great experiences in science and in developing a spirit of international understanding.'

He added: 'The Royal society of Chemistry found the UK team thanks to the generous contribution of INEOS, the major chemicals company with whom we have a very fruitful partnership.'