《TAIPEI TIMES》 Taiwan takes one silver, seven golds in olympiads

From left, high-school students Hsu Ting-jui, Chan Wei-chun, Yao Yi-keng and Chen Yu-chen pose for a photograph after winning four golds in the International Biology Olympiad in Lithuania on Saturday. Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Education

BIG DREAMS:The education ministry said it hoped that by hosting the competition next year, it could help Taiwan nurture talented students and foster global connections

By Fion Khan / Staff writer, with CNA Taiwanese high-school students over the weekend swept four gold medals at the International Biology Olympiad （IBO） in Lithuania, and secured three golds and one silver at the International Chemistry Olympiad （IChO） in Uzbekistan.

All four members of the Taiwan team for IBO — Hsu Ting-jui （許庭睿） from Taichung First Senior High School, Chen Yu-chen （陳語晨） from Taipei First Girls’ High School, and Chan Wei-chun （詹緯濬） and Yao Yi-keng （姚亦耕） from Taipei Municipal Chien Kuo High School — received gold medals in the competition, which was held from Sunday last week to yesterday, the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania said in a statement.

Representative to Lithuania Constance Wang （王雪虹） passed on congratulatory messages from President William Lai （賴清德） and Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim （蕭美琴） to the students at the awards ceremony, praising their exceptional performances and encouraging them to continue honing their expertise to shine in their respective fields, the office said.

The IBO is one of the premier biology competitions for high-school students and drew more than 300 students from 78 countries this year, it said, adding that Taiwan has participated in the IBO since 1999 and has consistently achieved good results.

Meanwhile, the K-12 Education Administration said Taiwan ranked third globally at the IChO after bagging three gold medals and one silver.

The three gold medalists are Fang Yi-chen （方怡宸） from Chien Kuo High School, Chang Chen-jui （張宸睿） from Kaohsiung Senior High School and Fan Yi-yang （范奕揚） from Taichung First Senior High School, it said,

Cheng Ping-hao （鄭秉皓） from the National Experimental High School at Hsinchu Science Park took home the silver medal, it added.

The four students were selected from 2,406 applicants across 141 schools nationwide through a rigorous four-stage process that was overseen by a panel of more than 10 university professors, it said.

Taiwan has been an active participant of the IChO since 1992 and is set to host the 59th edition of the competition next year, the agency said, adding that the Taiwanese team received the tournament flag during the closing ceremony to bring back to Taiwan.

The Ministry of Education said it hoped that hosting the international competition next year would provide Taiwan with another international stage to discover and nurture talented students in science and mathematics through fostering global connections.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES

Taiwanese students, from left, Fang I-chen, Fan I-yang , Chang Chen-jui, and Cheng Ping-hao win three gold medals and one silver at the 58th International Chemistry Olympiad in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Photo courtesy of Ministry of Education