The “Chemiada” – the Chemistry Olympics – takes place at the Schulich Faculty of Che mistry since 1999.
The objective of the Chemiada is to reach three important goals:
Encouraging participation and interest among high-school pupils in order to raise awareness about the importance of studying chemistry.
Acquainting the pupils with areas of research in chemistry that is conducted at Israeli colleges and universities, while preparing them for different stages of the competition.
Discovering exceptional talents, and promoting scientific education by offering personal programs/scientific topics, primarily based on chemistry, in order to encourage future research in these fields.
Building up a group of pupils that will serve as a basis for the Israeli team in the International Chemistry Olympics.
The Chemiada competition takes place in three different tracks:
*The main track consists of three stages:
Stage A takes place in schools and includes all pupils who wish to take part in it (an average of 3000-6000 pupils over several years). It consists of a multiple choice exam with questions from different fields of chemistry. The best students who have passed stage A are invited to participate in stage B of the competition.
Stage B takes place in the course of one day at the Technion. The pupils take an exam, listen to a lecture combined with demonstrations and take a tour through the research laboratories of the Faculty of Chemistry. Around 300 pupils advance to this stage every year. The exam at this stage consists of questions taken from subject matter which is not taught at schools, alongside “scientific” questions which are meant to test creative thinking. About 30 outstanding students advance to the nation-wide final stage.
The final stage is held at the Technion during two days and consists of three parts: A competitive part, a scientific part and a social part. Finally, it turns into a celebration of chemistry. The competitive part includes an exam on a level close to the level of exams at the International Chemistry Olympics, a laboratory exercise and a lecture prepared by each one of the pupils on a chosen topic. The lecture is given in front of and assessed by faculty members and is open to the public. The scientific part contains 2-3 lectures given by faculty members of the Technion Faculty of Chemistry. The social part consists of a museum tour and of a trip to the Technion swimming pool as well as to selected places in the city of Haifa.
The prizes: The six winners (three from grade 11 and three from grade 12) are awarded with a study scholarship for the Technion Faculty of Chemistry for a year or a semester. In addition, according to a decision of the Ministry of Education, pupils who have reached the national finals are granted credits towards the matriculation chemistry exam.
*The second track for pupils from grades 9-10 consists of two stages:
In the first stage, the pupils take a multiple choice test about different fields of chemistry that have been taught in their school.
The final stage takes place at the Technion and mainly includes exams, a tour through the laboratories and the attendance of lectures.
About 10 outstanding pupils from the finals are invited to participate directly in stage B for grades 11-12 in the following Chemiada. Whenever an especially gifted pupil is spotted, he or she is allowed to join the preparations for the International Chemistry Olympics.
*The International Chemistry Olympics – preparations and participation
This competition takes place worldwide since the year of 1968. Today, about 70 countries participate in it. Every country has the right to send four representatives.
Preparations for the Olympics and assembly of the delegation include a summer camp as well as concentrated exercise days at the Technion. The participants receive lectures, train in problem solving, perform laboratory exercises and take exams in the main topics of the competition program. The delegation for the Olympiad is selected based on the exam results.
A table summarizing the achievements of the Israeli delegation throughout the years is presented here: http://goo.gl/IQslFn
