Press Enter to Center block
:::

Taiwan Wins Five Gold Medals at International Physics Olympiad

Date:
font-size:
Taiwan had a good showing at the 45th International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) 2014 in Astana, Kazakhstan, where five local students won gold medals among 374 competitors coming from 85 countries, which ranked Taiwan second place in this competition. Competitor Chang Chuan-han (張巏瀚) from Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School ranked fifth place overall; he also won the Best Theory Award in the IPhO, after having won Best Performance in Theory in the 15th Asian Physics Olympiad 2014.

Professor Jia Jhih-da (賈至達) of the Department of Physics of National Taiwan Normal University along with around a dozen other professors took charge of training the Taiwanese team. Team members were selected in four stages: a primary, a semi-final, a pre-game training camp, and a final competition. Nearly 2,900 students took part in the primary competition this year, and only five students were chosen to represent Taiwan. The Taiwanese team went to Kazakhstan on July 12 to participate in the IPhO. The closing and award ceremonies were held on July 20.

Taiwan has participated in the IPhO since 1994, and has performed very well each year. To date, Taiwan has won 55 gold, 21 silver, and 18 bronze medals and eight honor awards, which put Taiwan in fifth place for the last five years.

A list of the team members who won awards follows.

 Name

 School

 Grade

 Medal

 Chang Chuan-han
(張巏瀚)

 Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School

 12

 Gold

 Chen Chi-fang
(陳麒方)

 Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School

 11

 Gold

 Sung Ya-lun
(宋亞倫)

 National Hualien Senior High School

 11

 Gold

 Chen Chih-wei
(陳致維)

 Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School

 11

 Gold

 Lin Ting-chun
(林鼎鈞)

 Taichung Municipal Hui-Wen High School

 10

 Gold


To recognize students’ outstanding performance, the MOE formulated and issued special regulations. The Regulations for Preferred Status Admission to Institutions of Higher Education for Award Holders for the International Mathematics and Science Olympiads and International Science Fair stipulate that those who win gold, silver, or bronze medals in the IPhO can be automatically admitted into related university departments, or recommended for admission to any department. Additionally, those who win a gold medal will receive a 200,000 NT dollar scholarship; those who win a silver medal will receive a 100,000 NT dollar scholarship; and those who win a bronze medal will receive a 50,000 NT dollar scholarship. A student who wins two or more different awards during the same academic year can only apply for the most valuable scholarship he or she qualifies for.

In the future, the MOE will continue to train students and invite the most outstanding ones to participate in international contests, in the hope to promote the country’s international exchanges and expand students’ global perspective. The government will again select the best students to compete in next year’s IPhO, which will be held in India.

Top