Today the UK students spent the day relaxing in the hotel
grounds and carried out some souvenir shopping in Mumbai. All in all, a pretty quiet
day for them – but well deserved after such a busy week.
Meanwhile, team leaders and observers have been involved in
various meetings through the day.
Firstly, there was the grading meeting to announce the
boundaries for the awarding of medals and honourable mentions. Nominally, 8% of
students are awarded Gold, 25% are awarded Silver or better, 50% are awarded Bronze
or better, and 67% are awarded an IPhO medal or honourable mention.
Secondly, each country had several 20 minute meetings with
members of the academic committee to discuss any disagreement with marking of
each component of the two examination papers.
Finally, there was an IPhO international board meeting to
ratify the results of the 2015 IPhO, consider any motions put forward (such as
amendments to the IPhO syllabus or protocol and procedures) and to look ahead
to the 2016 IPhO in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Meetings finally concluded
at midnight, with an early start the next day for the closing ceremony.
Hosting an IPhO takes considerable organising, and earlier
in the week I discussed the many potential challenges faced by the host nation (such
as securing funding, coordination of accommodation and travel for representatives
of multiple countries, etc.) over lunch with Simon, an observer from
Switzerland, who is greatly involved in the planning for the 2016 IPhO, and Eli
and Pavel, team leaders from Israel, who will host the 2019 IPhO.
In tomorrow's final entry I'll be discussing the results of the UK students, and the competitors in general, and reflecting on this 46th IPhO.
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