The Pakistani team accomplished a noteworthy feat by winning two bronze medals at the International Biology Olympiad (IBO), which took place in Astana, Kazakhstan, from July 7-14, 2024.Soban Safdar from FFC Grammar School in Mirpur Mathelo and Zoha Asif from Nixor College in Karachi successfully represented Pakistan in the IBO 2024.
PIEAS states that the National Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), Faisalabad, which is a constituent institution of PIEAS University, Islamabad, provided the biology team with training from Drs. Asma Imran and Amir Ali.
In order to foster students’ interest in STEM disciplines and guarantee that participants are prepared for the opportunities and challenges of the future, PIEAS, which oversees the STEM Careers programme, has worked hard to create an enabling platform.
Within the framework of the STEM careers programme, PIEAS holds an annual National Science Talent Contest (NSTC).
The International Science Olympiads (ISOs) are the most prestigious competition for high school and college students, and the students chosen under the NSTC programme receive additional training for participation in them.
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Teams in the four subjects, mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology are chosen by a national NSTC that takes place in 19 different Pakistani cities every year.
Initially, residential training camps are offered in each subject’s home institutes to the top 50 students in the screening test.
After several training camps, the grooming or selection procedure reduces this group to the top four to six students in each of these topics so they can compete in ISOs.
Training camp operations in Hawaii are overseen by the HEC STEM Careers programme office.
COMSATS-Lahore is the home institute for mathematics; the University of Karachi is the home institute for chemistry; PIEAS is the home institute for physics; and NIBGE (PIEAS) is the home institute for biology.
Since 2001, Pakistan has been a consistent competitor in the International Physics Olympiad, since 2005 in the Mathematics Olympiad, and since 2006 in the Biology and Chemistry Olympiad.
Over 350 students have had the opportunity to compete in the ISOs since its start, and they have taken home 134 medals.
Through this programme, 4000 students have gotten instruction at the Home Institutes through more than 240 training camps.