TEHRAN—The first round of online project Olympiad will be held in Iran in the next Iranian calendar year (starting on March 21), Fatemeh Mohajerani, an official with the Ministry of Education has said.

The project Olympiad will focus on special subjects and is very much like Khwarizmi International Award the only difference is that the Olympiad will be carried out online, IRNA news agency quoted Mohajerani as saying on Sunday.

The Khwarizmi International Award is a research award given annually to 10 senior researchers and 10 young researchers, are selected by the Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology (IROST). It honors individuals who have made outstanding achievements in research, innovation and invention, in fields related to science and technology.

The participants can submit their projects online via a website and a jury will evaluate them, she added.

“We prefer to concentrate on subjects such as energy, water and environment for the first round of the Olympiad,” she highlighted, adding that negotiations to finalize the plan is underway. 

Mohajerani also mentioned Universal Project Olympiad (UNIPO) saying that Iran is trying to join UNIPO committee, so that award winning students can also take part in the International Project Olympiad as well. 

According to its official website UNIPO is international project competition among school students. The competition is conducted annually by Organizing Committee of UNIPO. Students who perform project can participate in the contest in five categories; namely, physics, chemistry, ecology, invention and IT. 

The advantage which makes UNIPO different from other project Olympiads is it is conducted online. The main aim behind this is to give every student a chance to participate in an international project Olympiad. Moreover, all registered projects will be evaluated by Jury Members. Jury Members of UNIPO are international scholars who are professional in their respective fields.

Elsewhere in her remarks Mohajerani said that the first phase of the Geography Olympiad will be held in the month of Bahman (January 21-February 19) concurrent with Olympiads in Iran and so far some 5,500 students have signed up for taking part in the exam. 

“This indicates that we have to concentrate more on human sciences,” she suggested.

“We have also negotiated with National Geographical Organization so that students who come in first places in the Olympiad can collaborate with the organization,” she stated. 
 
She went on to say that Iran is making an attempt to host the Persian literature Olympiad for the Persian-speaking countries in the region for next summer. 

Registration of the first international student Olympiad on stem cells and regenerative medicine in the name of Iran is also on agenda, Mohajerani concluded.

MQ/MG