International Science Olympiad

The International Science Olympiads are a group of worldwide annual competitions in various areas of the formal sciences, natural sciences, and social sciences. The competitions are designed for the 4-6 best high school students from each participating country selected through internal National Science Olympiads, with the exception of the IOL, which allows two teams per country, the IOI, which allows two teams from the hosting country, and the IJSO, which is designed for junior secondary students and also allows two teams from the hosting country. Early editions of the first Olympiads were limited to the Eastern Bloc, but later they gradually spread to other countries.^[1]

Overview

The Olympiads themselves are separate competitions each with its own organizing body, even though they are loosely grouped together as "ISOs". The aims of each ISO are to promote a career in science; to challenge the brightest students from around the world; and to compare the various teaching systems of each country. Although the competitions are aimed for secondary school pupils, the standards of the exams are extremely high.^{[citation needed]}

International Science Olympiads

Science Olympiads are international student competitions. There are 12 commonly recognized International Science Olympiads:

#	Science	Symbol	Year	Host Country (For 2024)	Host Country (For 2025)
1	International Mathematical Olympiad	IMO	since 1959	United Kingdom	Australia
2	International Physics Olympiad	IPhO	since 1967	Iran	France
3	International Chemistry Olympiad	IChO	since 1968	Saudi Arabia	United Arab Emirates
4	International Olympiad in Informatics	IOI	since 1989	Egypt	Bolivia
5	International Biology Olympiad	IBO	since 1990	Kazakhstan	Philippines
6	International Philosophy Olympiad	IPO	since 1993	Finland	Italy
7	International Astronomy Olympiad	IAO	1996-2023
8	International Geography Olympiad	iGeo	since 1996	Ireland	Thailand
9	International Linguistics Olympiad	IOL	since 2003	Brazil	Taiwan
10	International Junior Science Olympiad	IJSO	since 2004	Romania	Russia
11	International Earth Science Olympiad	IESO	since 2007	China	China
12	International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics	IOAA	since 2007	Brazil	India