A total of 31 Japanese high school students attend seven categories of the International Science Olympiads every summer. This year, however, the Physics, Geography, and Earth Science Olympiads were canceled, and the Mathematical, Chemistry, and Biology Olympiads were held online because of the COVID-19 pandemic. JST, as a supporting organization, held an online press conference to report the current situation of each competition and the results of Japanese students on August 25, 2020.

The 31st International Biology Olympiad 2020 Nagasaki (IBO2020) was to be held in July; instead, the committee held the first online competition named IBO Challenge 2020 on August 11–12, 2020. “With the strong will of stakeholders to guarantee the opportunity for young people around the world to compete with each other, they overcame difficulties such as differences in web environments and fairness in exams to realize a remote competition. This will set an example of a new style of education” said Dr. Asashima Makoto, President of the IBO2020 Committee.

Among a total of 202 students, representing 53 countries and regions, all four students from Japan finished with great results, earning one gold medal and three silver medals. The gold medalist, Suematsu Mahiro, a third-year student of Eiko Gakuen Senior High School, said “It was a precious experience. Unfortunately, the practical exam using laboratory instruments was canceled, but I am looking forward to attending the International Group Project as an alternative to the international exchange programs.”

International exchange and competition are important aims of the International Science Olympiads. Under the constraints of the current remote situation, the International Group Project was planned again such that four students from different countries formed one group and participated in the challenge with the given subjects. Each group chose one topic out of the four given topics: infectious diseases, biodiversity and oceans, genome editing, and evolution. With the aid of former Olympians as student facilitators, each group has discussed the topics online for approximately 2 months, aiming for the poster presentation.

Special training for the representatives of Japanese students was also held online. In the 52nd International Chemistry Olympiad, all four students from Japan won the silver medals. Dr. Yonezawa Noriyuki, Professor at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, who has been a committee member of the Chemistry Olympiad and has been teaching students for long, said, “I was worried about how much we could improve their ability through remote training, but the students made voluntary efforts exceeding my expectation and achieved these results.”

Finally, Okuno Shin, Director for Human Resources Policy Division, Science and Technology Policy Bureau, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), presented his remark and ended the press conference: “Although the COVID-19 pandemic is still affecting our life, we will continue supporting students who plan to attend the International Science Olympiads in the next fiscal year and beyond.”