Sri Lankan team shines at the 55th International Chemistry Olympiad 2023
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Sri Lankan champions with the mentors, Dr Ireshika De Silva and Dr Chinthaka Ratnaweera at the 55th IChO 2023
The four triumphant students, Kuragodage Thisarindu Adeepa Lakshan (Richmond College, Galle), Robolge Pahanma Upani Lenora (Sanghamitta Balika Vidyalaya, Galle), Isitha Dinujaya Arachchi (Ananda College, Colombo) and Thuvarahan Chandrakumar (S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia) won four bronze medals at the 55th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) 2023 held from 16th to 25th July 2023 in Zurich, Switzerland.
IChO is a competition organized for secondary school students from all over the globe with the objective of promoting their creativity and cognitive skills in solving chemistry related problems. This year a total of 348 highly talented high school students from 89 countries participated in this prestigious competition. The chemistry knowledge of these talented students was tested in five-hour-long practical and theoretical examinations. The Sri Lankan team was accompanied by the mentors, Dr Ireshika De Silva (University of Colombo) and Dr Chinthaka Ratnaweera (University of Ruhuna).
The Chemistry Olympiad Sri Lanka (COSL) committee which is a sub-committee under the Council of the Institute of Chemistry Ceylon (IChemC) organises the Sri Lanka National Chemistry Olympiad (SLNChO) competition annually and trains the team that represents Sri Lanaka in this prestigious IChO competition. First, a pool of around 30 students is selected from the all-island preliminary selection examination held usually in January each year and thereafter, COSL committee conducts several practical and theory workshops for them. Subsequently, four representatives of the Sri Lankan team are selected from very competitive practical and theory examinations.
Medal winners (L-R) Thuvarahan Chandrakumar, Adeepa Lakshan, Pahanma Lenora, Isitha Dinujaya
This is indeed a remarkable achievement by the Sri Lankan team as Sri Lanka physically participated in the IChO competition for the first time. From 2020 to 2023 the IChO competitions were held as remote examinations due to the global pandemic situation. Sri Lankan team won three bronze medals in 2020 and 2021, and one silver and three bronze medals in 2022.
The champions of the IChO 2023 were recognised at a felicitation ceremony held on 19th August 2023 at the Institute of Chemistry Ceylon (IChemC) headquarters, Adamantane House in Rajagiriya. The event was attended by students, their parents, Council members of the Institute, members of the COSL committee, and invitees.
The applications for the preliminary selection examination of the SLNChO 2024 will be called in October 2023. For more details visit the COSL website https://www.web.ichemc.edu.lk/cosl/ and COSL Facebook page . Information regarding the application process will be uploaded soon on the website.
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