Students from Taiwan Won 5 Gold Medals and 3 Bronze Medals at the 14th Asian Physics Olympiad, 2013 -Ministry of Education Republic of China (Taiwan)

Students from Taiwan Won 5 Gold Medals and 3 Bronze Medals at the 14th Asian Physics Olympiad, 2013

Date: 2013-05-12

Students from Taiwan Won 5 Gold Medals and 3 Bronze Medals at the 14th Asian Physics Olympiad, 2013

Students from Taiwan have won 5 gold medals and 3 bronze medals at the 14th Asian Physics Olympiad (APhO), which 146 students from 20 countries attended. This excellent performance was second only to the Mainland China team which won 8 gold medals.

The Taiwanese team was trained by National Taiwan Normal University. Team members were selected in four stages: primary selection, semi-final selection, final selection, and pre-game training camp. 3,007 students from 131 schools joined the primary selection this year. After the semi-final and final selections, 8 students were chosen to represent Taiwan in the APhO. On May 5th the Taiwanese team set off to Indonesia for the competition. The closing and awarding ceremonies were held on May 11th local time.

Taiwan has been attending the APhO since 2000, and has performed well each year. To date, Taiwan has won 50 gold medals, 29 silver medals, 28 bronze medals and 13 honorable mentions in total. Over the past 14 years, Taiwan has ranked in second place on average, and ranked 1st in the 2001, 2003, and 2010 APhO.

The eight team members’ names and awards are as follows:

Name	School	Grade	Medal Awards
Jhang Wun-ju	Sacred Hearts High School	3	Gold
Syu Jing-jhong	National Taichung First Senior High School	3	Gold
Luo Yu-kai	Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School	2	Gold
Huang Song-fong	National Taichung First Senior High School	3	Bronze
Luo Zong-you	National Wu-Ling Senior High School	2	Gold
Yan Cyuan-yi	Changhua Senior High School	3	Gold
Jhang Ting-wei	National Taichung First Senior High School	3	Bronze
Chen Shang-wei	National Taichung First Senior High School	2	Bronze

To recognize students’ outstanding performance, the Ministry of Education (MOE) formulated and published Regulations for Preferred Status Admission to Institutions of Higher Education for Award Holders for the International Mathematics and Science Olympiads and International Science Fair. Those who win gold, silver, or bronze medal in the APhO may be either recommended for admission to university mathematics and science departments, or put up for any university department, while those who win an honorary award may also be put up for any university departments. Additionally, those who win a gold or silver medal receive 100 thousand NT dollars or 50 thousand NT dollars.

Upon the Taiwanese team’s return, the MOE will select 5 students for further training. These 5 students will go to Copenhagen to join the 44th International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) held in Kingdom of Denmark from July 7th to 15th. In the future, Taiwan will keep training and selecting outstanding students to join international contests in order to advance international exchange and have comprehensive global vision.

(back row from left to right) Luo Zong-you, Jhang Wun-ju, Yan Cyuan-yi, Syu Jing-jhong
(front row left to right) Huang Song-fong, Chen Shang-wei, Luo Yu-kai, Jhang Ting-wei