Everything by substance: schoolchildren from the Russian Federation won half of the gold medals of the Chemistry Olympiad

All ten students of the Russian national team won gold medals at the 59th International Mendeleev Chemistry Olympiad in Brazil. In addition to them, representatives of China, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Hungary were among the gold medalists. The competition not only develops international scientific cooperation, but also prepares the personnel of the future for research and high-tech entrepreneurship, experts said. About how the competitions of young chemists from 40 countries were held — in the material of Izvestia.

How was the Mendeleev Olympiad held in Brazil?

Professor Gerardo Ojeda Caralero of the University of Havana is called the Cuban Andrei Kolmogorov. He also, like the renowned academician, provides an opportunity for talented teenagers from the countryside to develop their knowledge at the highest level. The scientist is looking for children with chemistry skills. He arrived at the 59th International Mendeleev Olympiad of Schoolchildren in Chemistry (IMO-59) in the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte as a member of the organizing committee. According to him, this competition is interesting because all the tasks here are designed with their own specific trick, and therefore it is considered the most difficult and interesting.

"Participants have to solve tasks from different sections of chemistry — analytical, organic, and inorganic — using various methods, quantitative and qualitative, and this is not an easy task," the professor told Izvestia.

The day before, on May 12, the Mendeleev Olympiad ended in Brazil. 19 gold medals, 38 silver and 58 bronze medals were awarded. 20 sets of medals were awarded in two theoretical and one practical rounds. As a result, all ten participants of the Russian national team took gold. Besides them, the gold medalists included representatives of China (three medals), Uzbekistan (three), Vietnam (two) and Hungary (one). Vladimir Elistratov from the school of the Center for Pedagogical Excellence in Moscow became the best of the Russian participants in terms of points scored. In addition to the gold medal, he received the Academician Valery Lunin Award.

The competitions of young chemists from all over the world were held in three stages, two of which were theoretical and one was practical. Each stage had its own difficulties to show that the students not only had a good "memorization", but also had a deep understanding of chemical processes and were able to work in the laboratory. On the practical tour, which took place on May 10, the high school students got into a real laboratory with a large number of glass flasks and test tubes. Here they had to do the work that pharmacologists of large companies do in everyday life.

— The guys have four tasks, and all of them are somehow devoted to the analysis of drugs that are well known to everyone: aspirin or paracetamol. And in some tasks, they need to conduct a quantitative analysis, that is, to check how much substance is in a particular tablet. And in others, they need to determine in encrypted test tubes where the drug is located," explained Andrei Shved, a member of the Olympiad jury.

The difficulty of such a practical task was that in five hours the children had to draw up an action plan and perform a large number of procedures, and all actions must be performed very carefully. This year, among the tasks, there was one unusual one — to carry out a reaction with enzymes, which had not been done before at chemistry Olympiads.

The excitement of the participants was present at every stage of the competition, despite the fact that the children who came to Belo Horizonte are already the best of the best in their countries, and they are all winners of national Olympiads.

— The experience of the practice tour is very painful. It was cool, but difficult. I had to do a lot of reactions, be careful, describe everything correctly, and so on. The impression is better from the theoretical tours, there is a feeling that everything is "screwed up", so the general feeling is that you are not the only one with such a problem," Viktor Demidov, a high school student from Moscow, shared with Izvestia.

Keki Mu, a student from Tianjin, had similar feelings about working in the laboratory and theoretical tasks. But the general friendly mood of the competition overcame the fatigue of going through the rounds of the Olympics.

— It was very difficult, I feel terrible and happy at the same time because it is a very exciting challenge. There's a great atmosphere here. I've already made friends with guys from Korea, Honduras and Vietnam," the young man said immediately after the tests.

How the Mendeleev Olympiad nurtures scientific staff

The Olympiad has strengthened the status of one of the key international projects of Russian science and education, said Tatyana Zhuravleva, General Director of the Melnichenko Foundation, co-chair of the Organizing Committee of MMO-59.

— Hundreds of undoubtedly talented and motivated schoolchildren from all over the world have demonstrated a high level of academic knowledge, confirming that chemistry has great potential for development as the most important driver of the global economy. The foundations of future international cooperation in this area are laid at events such as the Mendeleev Olympiad, as it gathers young people who will become leaders of major scientific, technological and commercial projects in their countries tomorrow," she said.

In total, the winners of national Olympiads from 40 countries took part in the competition. May 9 became special for the Russian national team — on this day the teams honored the memory of the people who died in the fight against the Nazi occupiers in the Great Patriotic War. Among the participants of the ceremony were representatives of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Brazil, Vietnam, Guyana, Israel, Kazakhstan, China, Cuba, North Macedonia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Ethiopia and other countries. Children laid flowers at an improvised memorial organized at the photo exhibition "Women at War", which is currently taking place in Belo Horizonte.

The Mendeleev Olympiad provides a good start for future teachers, educators, scientists and senior managers and researchers of large high-tech companies, Alexander Gladilin, chairman of the jury and the methodological commission of MMO-59, professor of the Faculty of Chemistry of Moscow State University and director of the University Gymnasium of Moscow State University, told Izvestia.

— Many companies have an interest both in us and in other countries. That is, strictly speaking, the Olympians have several paths left in this life. The main thing is that they follow them, and they don't get the feeling that they already know everything, and they don't have to do anything else in this life. We welcome when guys go to develop science," Alexander Gladilin shared with Izvestia.

Science is, on the one hand, a long game, and on the other, a game of getting ahead, because for leadership, including in the economy, countries need to have their own technologies, said Yulia Gorbunova, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vice-President of the Mendeleev Russian Chemical Society, Dean of the Moscow State University Faculty of Physics and Technology.

— I would really like these children to come to science, because the Olympics develop creativity, include drive and energy. And of course, it would be great if these children would make technologies that would meet modern challenges. Moreover, children meet here, get to know each other and create great friendships. And this is also very important for science, because today science cannot be national, it is by definition international and interdisciplinary, and the winner is the one who knows how to create the right large, including international, teams," she stressed.

The MMO is organized by the Chemical Faculty of Moscow State University and the Melnichenko Foundation. The event is held within the framework of the Decade of Science and Technology, announced by the President of Russia. The 60th anniversary International Mendeleev Chemistry Olympiad will be held next year.