The International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) has been conducted since 1968, and is a competition for students at the secondary and higher secondary school levels. The IChO boosts the level of chemistry education in the participating countries. It helps develop friendly relations between the young people from different countries.
India started participating in this event from the year 1999 at the 31st IChO held at Bangkok, Thailand. India hosted the 33rd International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) in its third year of participation in 2001 with whole-hearted support of all countries.
The chemistry Olympiad program follows the following 5 stages:
- Stage I:National Standard Examination in Chemistry (NSEC),
- Stage II: Indian National Chemistry Olympiad (INChO),
- Stage III:Orientation cum Selection Camp (OCSC) in chemistry,
- Stage IV: Pre-departure Training Camp (PDT) for IChO,
- Stage V: Participation in International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO)
The detailed information about eligibility and structure of the stages is given below:
Stage I: National Standard Examination in chemistry (NSEC)
NSEC is the first stage of selection of students in the Chemistry Olympiad Programme which is organised by the Indian Association of Chemistry Teachers (IAPT). Every student aspiring to go through successive stages of the programme must enroll for NSEC. NSEC is held at a large number of centres in the country.
Date of NSEC 2020: 29 November 2020 (Saturday)
Time of NSEC 2020: 12:30 pm to 02:30 pm
Last Date for Enrollment for NSEC: 20th September 2020
Eligibility :
All Indian students who are born on or after July 1, 2000 and, in addition, are in Class XII or lower as of November 30, 2020, are eligible to appear for NSEC 2020 – 2021. A student may appear for more than one subject provided the examination schedule allows it. See information about the examination schedule under various subjects. Students who have passed Class XII are not eligible to enroll for NSEC.
It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that the eligibility criteria are satisfied. In case at any stage of the programme it is found that the student does not satisfy the eligibility criteria, he/she may be disqualified from the programme.
Syllabus :
The syllabus for NSEC is broadly equivalent to the senior secondary level (Class XI and Class XII) of CBSE Chemistry. This is only a rough guideline, and there is no detailed syllabus given for NSEC.
Question Paper :
NSEC emphasizes comprehension of the subject, not rote memory.The question paper will consist of 80 multiple choice questions, each with only one of the four options correct.
Language : English.:
Qualifying for the Second Stage :
The aim of the first stage examination is to have a wide reach, to progressively increase this reach and to attain nationwide representation for stage II without overly compromising on merit. Hence the selection to the stage II examinations i.e. Indian National Olympiad Examinations (INOs) is based on the following scheme.
a.Eligibility Clause: A candidate must secure a score equal to or greater than a Minimum Admissible Score (MAS) to be eligible for the Stage II INO exam leading to the International Olympiad . The MAS for a given subject will be 40% of the maximum score in that subject.
b.Proportional Representation Clause: The number of students selected for Stage II (INO) in each subject is around 300. The number of candidates who appeared for NSE in 2011-12 in a subject from centers in each State or Union Territory (UT) will be considered the baseline for calculating the number qualifying from centers in that State or UT for that subject. Suppose this number in 2011-12 for centers in a given State in a given subject is S, and the total number that appeared in 2011-12 in that subject for the country is T, then the number selected to Stage II in that subject from that State would be S/T times 300, rounded off to the nearest higher integer. In the event of a tie at the last position in the list all students with the same marks at this position will qualify to appear for the Stage II examination. The selected students must nevertheless satisfy the eligibility clause laid out above. The total number to be selected from centers in each State for each subject will be displayed on the IAPT and HBCSE websites.
c.Minimum Representation Clause: Notwithstanding the proportional representation clause the number of students selected for INO from each State and UT must be at least one, provided that the eligibility clause is satisfied.
d.Merit Clause: Given the eligibility clause, it is conceivable that 300 students may not qualify for Stage II in a subject. Should this occur, the shortfall (from 300) will be selected based purely on merit without further consideration to proportional representation and minimum representation clauses. In the event of a tie at the last position in the list all students with the same marks at this position will qualify to appear for the Stage II examination.
There will be no other criterion or provision for selection to the Indian National Olympiad Examinations (INOs).
All students who qualify to appear for the INChO get a certificate of merit from IAPT.
Stage II:Indian National Chemistry Olympiad (INChO)
INChO is organized by HBCSE at about 15 centres in the country.
Eligibility: Students selected from Stage I examination (NSEC) are eligible to appear for INChO. In addition, those students, who have been exempted from NSEC as described in the Enrollment page, are also eligible to appear for INChO. Besides these two, there is no other way by which a student becomes eligible to appear for INChO.
The tentative date and time of INChO 2021 examination are as follows
May 2021
The camps include several theoretical and experimental tests. Orientation is provided to students especiallyin experiments. The camps conclude with a valedictory function where distinguished scientists are invited to speak to the students.
Syllabus:The merit list of OCSC is prepared on the basis of the combined theoretical and experimental score aggregated over all the tests in the camp, with 60% weightage for theory and 40% weightage for experiment. Performance in previous stages (NSEC and INChO) will not be a consideration for the merit list and awards of the OCSC.
The top 5 students in the OCSC Chemistry merit list are declared to be special merit awardees. These special merit awardees are given Rs. 5,000/- each in the form of books and cash. In addition there are special prizes to recognize meritorious performance in theory and experiments.
The 5 special merit awardees in Chemistry selected at the end of the OCSC constitute the 5 member student team for the International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO), provided they satisfy required criteria such as age limit, holding valid Indian passport, medical fitness, parental consent, etc.
Stage III: Orientation Cum Selection Camp (OCSC) in Chemistry
OCSC in Chemistry will be organized by HBCSE sometime in April to June 2021 for 2-3 weeks. The precise dates will be announced prior to or along with the announcement of the selection list for the OCSC.
Eligibility: Only the students selected from the merit list of Stage II (INChO) are eligible. There will be no other criterion or provision.
The tentative dates of OCSC 2021 are as follows:
February 7, 2021 (Sunday) : 09:00 am — 12:00 noon (3 hours)
The confirmed date and schedule will be announced in the first week of January 2021 on this website and communicated by post to the eligible students. Students appearing for INChO are eligible for TA/DA as per norms of the programme.
Syllabus: The syllabus for INChO is broadly similar to NSEC.The syllabus, however, is only a broad guideline. Questions and problems in National Olympiads are usually non-conventional and of high difficulty level, comparable to International Olympiads.
On the basis of performance in INChO, the top 35 students in the merit list will be selected for Stage III: Orientation Cum Selection Camp (OCSC) in Chemistry.In the event, there is a tie at the last position, all students with the same marks at this last position will qualify for OCSC.There will be no other criterion or provision for selection to OCSC.
Stage IV: Pre-departure Training (PDT) Camp for IChO
The selected 5 member Indian team undergoes a rigorous training programme at HBCSE in theory and experiments. Special laboratories have been developed at HBCSE for the purpose of experimental training. Resource persons from HBCSE and different institutions across the country train the students.
Stage V: Participation in International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO)
The 5 member student team, 2 teacher leaders and 1 scientific observer constitute the delegation to represent India at the International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO). The 44th IChO will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, tentatively in July 2021.