More than just winning medals

The 55th International Chemistry Olympiad ended with a closing ceremony on Monday afternoon, 24 July. Out of 348 participants, 217 were awarded gold, sil-ver, or bronze medals. The Swiss team took home an "honourable mention."

Successful event thanks to many volunteers

IChO 2023 was held in Switzerland for the first time and was organized by ETH Zurich’s Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, the Science Olympiad Association, the Swiss Chemistry Olympiad Association, and the Swiss Chemical Society. The event also received support from the Department for Education, Research, and Innovation, as well as numerous partners from the business community and charitable foundations. Marco Gerber, head of the organizing committee, was delighted with the event’s success: "We spent two years preparing for this week, and now I am happy that everything worked out so well. We owe this not least to the more than 300 volunteers who put their heart and soul into making the IChO possible!"

Getting to know Switzerland and like-minded people in science

In addition to the exams, the participants had the opportunity to get to know Switzerland and its research through an extensive social program. For example, they visited the Paul Scherrer Institute, Lonza - a site for research and development in manufacturing - in Visp. They went on excursions to the picturesque mountain of Rigi and the old town of Bern - their accompanying persons did not miss out either. They gained an insight into the research work of Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) and Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), visited Methrom AG - producer of precision instruments for chemical analysis - in Herisau, and enjoyed the view from the Swiss alpine peak, Säntis.