On April 15, the TASS press center hosted a press conference devoted to the 59th International Mendeleev Chemistry Olympiad for schoolchildren (IMChO-59), which will be held in Brazil from May 5 to 13. Teams from 40 countries will take part in the competition. This year the oldest in the world Olympiad of schoolchildren is hosted by the Federal University of Minas Gerais, located in the city of Belo Horizonte. The organizers are the Faculty of Chemistry of Lomonosov Moscow State University and the Melnichenko Foundation. The event is held within the framework of the Decade of Science and Technology announced by the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin. It demonstrates the international authority of the Russian scientific and educational tradition in the field of chemistry.
The importance of the Olympiad as a key mechanism for identifying and supporting young talents and its role in popularization of chemical knowledge was discussed by Academician Stepan Kalmykov, Scientific Director of the Faculty of Chemistry of Moscow State University, Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He emphasized that since 1967 the Mendeleev Olympiad has been held first in the Soviet Union, then in an international format. "These are the best guys who have passed the national selection. These are the best of the best, the future elite of chemical science and practice. The Olympiad is always a very high level of representation and tasks. Therefore, according to the government decree, the winners of the Mendeleev Olympiad can enter the budget in the best universities of the country", — said the speaker. He also touched upon the implementation of the concept of development of chemical education developed at MSU on behalf of the government, aimed at improving the quality of chemistry teaching at all levels of education and training of specialists in chemical and related fields. "There is a very big role of a mentor, school teacher and university teacher in the formation of professional trajectory. Valery Vasilyevich Lunin, Dean and then President of the MSU Faculty of Chemistry, was always sincerely rooting for the level of chemical education, for school teachers. It is not by chance that the main award of the International Mendeleev Olympiad with a very impressive cash prize bears his name," Academician Kalmykov added.
CEO of the Melnichenko Foundation Tatyana Zhuravleva noted that the Foundation not only provides financial support, but also acts as a co-organizer. "It is a great honor for us to be a co-organizer of such an important event. This is a big part of our work on career guidance for young people in the areas where EuroChem Group operates. This year we have reached a record — representatives from 40 countries will take part in the Olympiad," said a representative of the foundation.
Marcelo Bölke, Minister — Counselor at the Embassy of the Federative Republic of Brazil in Moscow, emphasized that the promotion of academic scientific cooperation, as well as cultural cooperation, is one of the priorities of Brazil’s diplomatic mission in Russia. He spoke about the Brazilian academic mission in Russia, the work of teachers of the Brazilian variant of Portuguese in Russian universities. "We consider the holding of the Olympiad in Brazil, in Belo Horizonte a huge achievement, which was the result of the joint work of Lomonosov Moscow State University and the University of Minas Gerais," the diplomat emphasized.
Alexander Gladilin, a member of the Mendeleev Olympiad jury, Director of the MSU University Gymnasium, spoke about the system of preparing and holding the Mendeleev Olympiad. He paid special attention to the fact that the Olympiad is really very complicated. "You can’t prepare for the IMChO tasks, you have to come and demonstrate your knowledge and your love for chemistry. The 7 days competition is held in three rounds — two theoretical and one practical, and the jury of the Olympiad is a serious international body. We have foreseen that on the free day of May 9 there will be a big program dedicated to the common struggle of the world countries against fascism", — noted the professor of Moscow University.
Director of the Department of International Cooperation of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil) Vice-Rector Aziz Saliba joined online from Belo Horizonte. He spoke about the preparation for the gathering of young chemists of the planet. "With great enthusiasm, with great interest we support international scientific and educational cooperation. The Mendeleev Olympiad is being held for the first time in Brazil, in Belo Horizonte, thanks to the partnership between MSU and the Federal University of Minas Gerais. It is among the leading universities in South America, and our chemistry department with more than half a century of history is recognized as the best in Brazil," said the representative of the host country.
Fyodor Kuznetsov, winner of the All-Russian Schoolchildren Olympiad and member of the Russian chemistry team, also took part in the press conference. "The preparation for each chemical Olympiad is unique. For the Mendeleev Olympiad it is especially difficult, but it is the best way to find out how good you are. Mendeleev International Olympiad means participants from 40 countries, it is an opportunity to get acquainted with peers from other countries, very smart young chemists", — he said about the upcoming tournament.
The participants of the press conference discussed the prospects of creating an international community of future chemical scientists to solve global problems of sustainable development, various formats for the development of scientific and technical cooperation in the year of Brazil’s presidency in BRICS. At the press conference, the composition of the Russian team at IMChO-59 was presented. It includes ten high school students from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tatarstan, Krasnodar Krai and Chelyabinsk Oblast.
The importance of the Olympiad as a key mechanism for identifying and supporting young talents and its role in popularization of chemical knowledge was discussed by Academician Stepan Kalmykov, Scientific Director of the Faculty of Chemistry of Moscow State University, Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He emphasized that since 1967 the Mendeleev Olympiad has been held first in the Soviet Union, then in an international format. "These are the best guys who have passed the national selection. These are the best of the best, the future elite of chemical science and practice. The Olympiad is always a very high level of representation and tasks. Therefore, according to the government decree, the winners of the Mendeleev Olympiad can enter the budget in the best universities of the country", — said the speaker. He also touched upon the implementation of the concept of development of chemical education developed at MSU on behalf of the government, aimed at improving the quality of chemistry teaching at all levels of education and training of specialists in chemical and related fields. "There is a very big role of a mentor, school teacher and university teacher in the formation of professional trajectory. Valery Vasilyevich Lunin, Dean and then President of the MSU Faculty of Chemistry, was always sincerely rooting for the level of chemical education, for school teachers. It is not by chance that the main award of the International Mendeleev Olympiad with a very impressive cash prize bears his name," Academician Kalmykov added.
CEO of the Melnichenko Foundation Tatyana Zhuravleva noted that the Foundation not only provides financial support, but also acts as a co-organizer. "It is a great honor for us to be a co-organizer of such an important event. This is a big part of our work on career guidance for young people in the areas where EuroChem Group operates. This year we have reached a record — representatives from 40 countries will take part in the Olympiad," said a representative of the foundation.
Marcelo Bölke, Minister — Counselor at the Embassy of the Federative Republic of Brazil in Moscow, emphasized that the promotion of academic scientific cooperation, as well as cultural cooperation, is one of the priorities of Brazil’s diplomatic mission in Russia. He spoke about the Brazilian academic mission in Russia, the work of teachers of the Brazilian variant of Portuguese in Russian universities. "We consider the holding of the Olympiad in Brazil, in Belo Horizonte a huge achievement, which was the result of the joint work of Lomonosov Moscow State University and the University of Minas Gerais," the diplomat emphasized.
Alexander Gladilin, a member of the Mendeleev Olympiad jury, Director of the MSU University Gymnasium, spoke about the system of preparing and holding the Mendeleev Olympiad. He paid special attention to the fact that the Olympiad is really very complicated. "You can’t prepare for the IMChO tasks, you have to come and demonstrate your knowledge and your love for chemistry. The 7 days competition is held in three rounds — two theoretical and one practical, and the jury of the Olympiad is a serious international body. We have foreseen that on the free day of May 9 there will be a big program dedicated to the common struggle of the world countries against fascism", — noted the professor of Moscow University.
Director of the Department of International Cooperation of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil) Vice-Rector Aziz Saliba joined online from Belo Horizonte. He spoke about the preparation for the gathering of young chemists of the planet. "With great enthusiasm, with great interest we support international scientific and educational cooperation. The Mendeleev Olympiad is being held for the first time in Brazil, in Belo Horizonte, thanks to the partnership between MSU and the Federal University of Minas Gerais. It is among the leading universities in South America, and our chemistry department with more than half a century of history is recognized as the best in Brazil," said the representative of the host country.
Fyodor Kuznetsov, winner of the All-Russian Schoolchildren Olympiad and member of the Russian chemistry team, also took part in the press conference. "The preparation for each chemical Olympiad is unique. For the Mendeleev Olympiad it is especially difficult, but it is the best way to find out how good you are. Mendeleev International Olympiad means participants from 40 countries, it is an opportunity to get acquainted with peers from other countries, very smart young chemists", — he said about the upcoming tournament.
The participants of the press conference discussed the prospects of creating an international community of future chemical scientists to solve global problems of sustainable development, various formats for the development of scientific and technical cooperation in the year of Brazil’s presidency in BRICS. At the press conference, the composition of the Russian team at IMChO-59 was presented. It includes ten high school students from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tatarstan, Krasnodar Krai and Chelyabinsk Oblast.