Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- From 9 to 15 May 2019, the 56th International Mendeleev Olympiad for schoolchildren in chemistry will be held in full-time mode in Tashkent. Schoolchildren from 16 countries will take part in it.

The organizing committee made this decision against the backdrop of a decrease in the incidence of COVID-19 in the world and the removal of restrictions by most countries, RIA Novosti was told in the organizing committee of the event. 

The organizers of MMO-56, equated in status to the International Olympiad in Chemistry, were the Faculty of Chemistry of Moscow State University named after M. V. Lomonosov, the Agency of the Presidential Educational Institutions of Uzbekistan, the Andrey Melnichenko Charitable Foundation and the Eurochem company.

“Chemistry is not only the knowledge of chemical reactions, but also the ability to work with hands. Therefore, at the first opportunity, we returned the correct face-to-face format to the Olympiad. I hope that next year the International Chemistry Olympiad will also be held in full-time format,” said Stepan Kalmykov, Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the IMO, Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry of Moscow State University, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 

Participation in MMO-56 has already been confirmed by young chemists from 16 countries: Austria, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Hungary, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Croatia.

“We are glad that the Mendeleev Olympiad is being held in Uzbekistan and has returned to us offline. If we pay attention to the history of this prestigious Olympiad, we can see that Uzbekistan is one of the countries that hosted the largest number of Olympiads,” said Khilola Umarova, director of the Presidential Agency for Educational Institutions of Uzbekistan.

“Uzbek teachers will also have the opportunity to get acquainted with the world’s leading practices in the field of school and Olympiad chemistry. During the Mendeleev Olympiad there will be a cycle of "round tables", open lectures and presentations by the leading coaches of the Olympic teams and team leaders, teachers and researchers from different parts of the world. In this way, we try to combine the efforts of chemists to train world-class scientists,” said Alexander Cherednik, Executive Director of the Andrey Melnichenko Foundation.

The competition will be held in three rounds: the first theoretical round (8 compulsory tasks, each of which is estimated at a maximum of 10 points), the second theoretical round (5 tasks out of 15 at the choice of the participants, the maximum score for the task is 15 points) and the experimental round (estimated at 75 points).

The International Mendeleev Olympiad became the legal successor of the All-Union Chemistry Olympiad for schoolchildren, retaining its numbering, in 1997. The winners will receive medals, and all participants will receive diplomas and valuable gifts. The absolute winner will also be awarded the Academician V.V. Lunin.