KFU students win 3 golds and 1 silver at 3rd International Chemistry Olympiad in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

According to the results of the competition, which was joined by more than 200 representatives of leading universities from 13 countries, the Kazanian students were the absolute leaders.

The Olympiad was organized by Turkmen State University. Students from different parts of the world – Russia, China, Iran, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Romania, Japan, and Turkmenistan – came to test their knowledge.

The university’s victory was brought by the achievements in individual competition – 3 gold and 1 silver medal. Gold medalists – sophomore Nikita Perov (2nd place overall), freshman Alexandra Romashova (6th place), and sophomore Vladimir Mironov (7th place). The silver medal was awarded to junior Mansur Khisamiev.

Our students competed in category A among the students of chemistry. In the first stage of the Olympiad, they had to solve problems from the section of inorganic and physical chemistry, in the second stage knowledge in organic and analytical chemistry was evaluated.

“All the guys in the past are prize-winners and winners of school Olympiads, they have a high level of preparation. Earlier my colleagues worked with them, and now they are preparing high school students themselves,” said Mikhail Yagofarov, Associate Professor of the Department of Physical Chemistry and Head of Olympiad Preparation Club at the Institute. “Before the Olympiad, four students were selected who showed the best results in solving problems. In preparation, we focused on tasks from past student Olympiads of a similar format, but it was difficult to predict what the organizers would offer.”

Yagofarov noted that the Olympiad’s tasks were not easy.

“The team performed excellently and beat the leading universities of both Russia and the world. It should be understood that the Olympiad tradition is mainly maintained by the countries of Eastern Europe and Asia. These countries, which traditionally perform well at the International Olympiad in Chemistry among schoolchildren, took part in this competition,” said the mentor. “I would also like to thank the Rector and Vice-Rector for Finance for their support in organizing our participation in the Olympiad.”

Nikita Perov won the second place in the overall competition (total score – 67.66). Dr Yagofarov shared that as a schoolboy Nikita had already participated in competitions of international level, won first places at prestigious Olympiads and almost never lost.

“Student international chemistry competitions are less regular than school competitions. This Olympiad was the first face-to-face Olympiad in a long time, previously it was held in an online format. This is the first experience for the organizers and contestants,” Perov said, noting the high level of the cultural program and hospitality from the Turkmenistani side.

The student emphasized that the participants of the Olympiad included chemists well-known in the Olympiad movement. It should be noted that after Kazan Federal University (the average score of the participants was 52.54), Moscow State University (47) and Novosibirsk State University (45.3) took the second place. The third place was shared by Turkmen State University, Patrice Lumumba Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, and Russian University of Chemical Technology.

The participating universities also included China University of Petroleum, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Belarus State University, Saitama University (Japan), Ploesti University of Oil and Gas (Romania), and Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (Iran).