Singapore Students Win 13 Gold Medals, 13 Silver Medals, 8 Bronze Medals and 1 Team Championship in this Year's International Olympiads and International Young Physicists' Tournament

The Ministry of Education (MOE) congratulates all students for their remarkable performances at the International Olympiads for Biology, Chemistry, Geography, Mathematics, Physics, Artificial Intelligence, and Informatics, as well as the International Young Physicists' Tournament¹, held from July to August 2026. Beyond the competitions, our students gained valuable experience through interactions with like-minded peers from around the world.

37th International Biology Olympiad (IBO)²

2. The Singapore team clinched three Gold medals and one Silver medal at the 37th IBO held in Vilnius, Lithuania from 12 to 19 July 2026, finishing joint 5th out of 78 countries/territories and 302 participants. The IBO tested students in both practical and theory components. The practical component comprised four tasks spanning molecular biology and biochemistry, animal physiology, animal morphology and systematics, and plant computational biology. The theory component covered a broad range of topics, including biosystematics, cell and molecular biology, ecology, ethology, genetics and evolution, and plant and animal anatomy and physiology.

58th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO)³

3. The Singapore team clinched three Gold medals and one Bronze medal at the 58th IChO held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, from 10 to 19 July 2026, emerging 7th out of 92 countries/territories and 363 participants. Students performed a diverse range of Chemistry tasks across experimental and theoretical components. In the experimental component, students had to synthesise compounds, perform quantitative analysis, and determine the identity of an unknown substance. In the theoretical component, students were required to solve problems related to biochemistry, physical chemistry, inorganic chemistry, and organic chemistry.

22nd International Geography Olympiad (iGeo) 2026⁴

4. The Singapore team clinched two Gold medals, one Silver medal and one Bronze medal at the 22nd iGeo held in Istanbul, Türkiye from 11 to 17 August 2026, finishing 4th out of 48 teams and 184 participants. The competition tested geographical knowledge and skills across three components: a written response test, a fieldwork test and a multimedia test. The written response test covered analytical questions on physical, human and regional geography. The fieldwork test assessed students' ability to observe and collect real-world data, apply geographical skills such as mapping, and think critically and inventively to complete assigned tasks. The multimedia test challenged students to apply their geographical thinking to interpret and analyse various resources.

67th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) 2026⁵

5. The Singapore team won three Gold medals, two Silver medals and one Bronze medal at the 67th IMO held in Shanghai, China from 10 to 21 July 2026, emerging 4th out of 117 countries/territories. A total of 666 participants took part in the IMO, tackling six challenging problems that assessed students' ingenuity and rigorous mathematical reasoning.

3rd International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (IOAI)⁶

6. The Singapore team won one Gold medal, three Silver medals and three Bronze medals at the 3rd IOAI held in Astana, Kazakhstan from 2 to 8 August 2026, competing against 440 participants from 95 countries. The IOAI's Individual Contest required participants to understand core concepts and theoretical underpinnings behind AI, as well as to demonstrate practical skills necessary to implement AI methods in code. Singapore will host the 4th IOAI in 2027.

38th International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) 2026⁷

7. The Singapore team clinched two Silver medals and two Bronze medals at the 38th IOI held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from 9 to 16 August 2026, competing against 375 participants from 97 countries/territories. Over two days of competition, students were challenged with designing and implementing efficient algorithms and data structures to solve computational problems.

56th International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) 2026⁸

8. The Singapore team clinched one Gold medal and four Silver medals at the 56th IPhO held in Bucaramanga, Colombia from 4 to 12 July 2026, competing against over 400 students from more than 90 countries/territories. The competition comprised an experimental and theoretical component, each lasting five hours. In the experimental test, students were required to carry out measurements on concrete physical phenomena, while the theoretical test focused on modelling and solving complex problems.

39th International Young Physicists' Tournament (IYPT) 2026⁹

9. The Singapore team claimed the Overall Champion title out of 35 competing countries at the 39th International Young Physicists' Tournament hosted in Zurich, Switzerland from 5 to 12 July 2026. Students engaged with 17 open-ended inquiry problems, where they presented, defended and critiqued solutions before an international panel of jurors, showcasing depth of understanding and the ability to think on their feet.

10. MOE congratulates all students on their outstanding achievements this year. Our students continue to fly the Singapore flag high across the international competitions, reflecting the hard work, dedication, and passion they bring to their respective fields. We look forward to their continued growth and contributions in the years ahead.

Footnotes

1. Our students’ participation in these international competitions was a joint effort between MOE and the following organisations: AI Singapore; DSO National Laboratories; Geography Teachers' Association of Singapore; Institute of Physics, Singapore; Nanyang Technological University; National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University; National University of Singapore; Singapore Institute of Biology; Singapore Mathematical Society.
2. Please refer to https://www.ibo2026.lt for more information about the 37th IBO.
3. Please refer to https://www.icho2026.uz for more information about the 58th IChO.
4. Please refer to https://www.igeo2026.org/ for more information about the 22nd iGeo.
5. Please refer to https://www.imo2026.com for more information about the 67th IMO.
6. Please refer to https://ioai-official.org/republic-of-kazakhstan for more information about the 3rd IOAI.
7. Please refer to https://ioi2026.uz for more information about the 38th IOI.
8. Please refer to https://ipho2026.com for more information about the 56th IPhO.
9. Please refer to https://www.iypt.org for more information about the 39th IYPT.