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UB-trained Romanian high schoolers have dominated the Olympiads this summer

2 octubre 2024
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Two gold medals, eight silver, five bronze and three mentions of honour! These are the results brought back home by the Romanian high school students who participated in four Olympics this summer: International Artificial Intelligence Olympiad in Saudi Arabia, International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence in Bulgaria, International Linguistics Olympiad in Brasilia and International Chemistry Olympiad in Saudi Arabia. All the winners have been trained by professors from the University of Bucharest. 
Romanian Chemistry Olympic Batch / Photo ©UB

The first competition - International Chemistry Olympiad - took place at the end of July, in Saudi Arabia. Three silver and one bronze medals were awarded to the Romanian participants. The Olympic batch was prepared by a team of academics from the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Bucharest, along with professors from two other universities in the country, and under the coordination of the famous Romanian chemist, Prof. Marius Andruh. Romania's Olympic team was on the podium also last year - a time when the marks of the pandemic were still visible: 

It was not an easy Olympics. All the participants have the pandemic period behind them, when the preparation was different than before. Last year the performance was better, but then we didn't have a practical test, so you can't compare. We are satisfied because in a short time we managed to rebuild the Olympic team”, concluded Marius Andruh. 

On the other side of the world

Almost at the same time took place in Brasilia the International Linguistics Olympiad. Seven students from high schools around the country obtained one gold medal, three silvers, a bronze one and two honour mentions. The group of students was prepared for the IOL by professors from the Faculty of Letters of the University of Bucharest and researchers from the Institute of Linguistics "Iorgu Iordan-Al. Rosetti" of the Romanian Academy.

Romanian Linguistics Olympic Batch / photo ©UB

The competitions also continued in August when, at the beginning of the month, Bulgaria hosted the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence. The Romanian teams won here one silver and two bronze medals. 

Another Olympiad in artificial intelligence, this time back in the Saudi Arabia, took place in September. The International Artificial Intelligence Olympiad awarded the Romanian students with a gold, a silver and a bronze medal, but also with a mention of honour. 

The Romanian team was selected by the UB Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science and coordinated by lecturer (and team leader) Miruna Zăvelcă. Several teachers from the same faculty were also involved in the preparation of the Olympians.

Romanian AI Olympic Batch /Photo ©UB

The University of Bucharest, the favourite of the champions

In the meantime, almost 400 international and national sports champions, international and national Olympians are choosing the University of Bucharest for continuing their studies and academic training. A total of 376 national Olympic pupils and 16 international sports and Olympic champions were admitted on the special places dedicated to performance scholarship receivers - a programme launched by the University of Bucharest starting the previous academic year. 

Comprising 19 faculties, with 95 bachelor programs, 223 master’s programs, 23 doctoral schools on specific fields and an interdisciplinary doctoral school, over 50 centres and 9 research facilities, UB has established itself as an institution dedicated to achieving excellence in education and research, whose priority is preparing its students for life and professional activity.

See the lists of the award winners and their chemistry, linguistics and math & info teachers in the original, Romanian stories.

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