Seminars and Workshops
The problems with the organization of the IChO started very soon and had to be solved step by step. The organizers of the IChO had their own imaginations about the competition, however, the competition itself could not be adapted to the requirements of all participating countries. On the contrary, the requirements of the participating countries had to be adapted to those of the competition. Therefore, it was necessary to organize some special meetings for those who were involved into the preparation of the competition and were interested in its content. The meetings were organized as seminars during the competition or workshops in the time gapes between the competitions. The participants of the workshops were chosen by the international jury and some of them by the organizer.
Seminars:
1974
Two days seminar during the 6th IChO in Bucharest (Romania) dedicated:
- to olympiads and problems connected with chemical education in different countries.
- to teaching of chemistry at secondary schools in Austria, Germany and Sweden.
1976
Workshop in Stirin (Czechoslovakia) was focused on the new regulation of the IChO.
1977
A didactic seminar on teaching of chemistry at the secondary schools
1979
One day seminar: Discussion how chemistry curricula of the secondary schools in particular countries were reflected in the level of competition tasks of IChOs.
1981
During 13th IIChO in Burgas (Bulgaria): Round table discussion on the theme: The role of chemistry olympiads in the development of interests and creativity of young pupils.
1984
A special meeting of the International Jury during the 16th IChO in Frankfurt, (Germany) was devoted to the past IChOs. The introducing plenary lecture was presented by Anton Sirota from Bratislava (Czechoslovakia) and focused on the content of the theoretical and experimental tasks of the past IChOs. The discussion was oriented to the problems how to use the experience from the past IChOs for the preparation of competition tasks in the future IChOs.
1998
The IChO International Information Center in cooperation with the organizers of the 30th IChO in Melbourne (Australia) organized a special Celebration Dinner on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the International Chemistry Olympiad. As a part of the event three lectures were presented on the history, theoretical and practical tasks content of the IChO competition and the lecturers were Wout Davids (The Netherlands), Heiner Zechmann (Austria), and Anton Sirota (Slovakia), respectively. On this occasion a booklet appeared with the title “A Brief Review on the History and Content of the International Chemistry Olympiad” that was prepared, printed and distributed by the IChO International Information Centre.
Workshops:
- 1984, Sofia, (Bulgaria)
- 1986, Praha, (Czechoslovakia)
- 1988, Cologne, (German Federal Republic)
- 1990, Amsterdam, (Netherlands)
- 1992, Sofia, (Bulgaria)
- 1994, Neusiedl am See, (Austria)
- 1996, Warsaw, (Poland)
- 1998, Smolenice, (Slovakia)
Compiled and edited by A. Sirota (IChO Intern. Information Centre)
