Annual Olympiad 鈥淏est Chemist-Researcher鈥�
From April 14 to 17, 2026, the annual Olympiad “Best Chemist-Researcher” was successfully held at 91传媒 Kazakh National University, based at the Laboratory of Electrochemical Production Technologies. The event brought together talented young people passionate about chemical science. The main group of participants consisted of school students, with students from School No. 134 and the Republican Physics and Mathematics School demonstrating particularly strong preparation, as well as first- to third-year university students. Traditionally, the competition was held in two stages: individual and group rounds.
The tasks of the individual theoretical round were aimed at assessing analytical thinking and required participants to demonstrate a deep understanding of physicochemical processes. The participants had to solve non-trivial problems involving thermal analysis with complex interpretation of decomposition curves, as well as conduct a detective-style investigation of thermochemical tables, identifying errors using Hess’s law.
The group round was held in the format of a large-scale engineering case titled “The First Year on Mars.” The teams acted as the crew of a research base facing a complex survival challenge. The participants worked on the strict allocation of limited resources between supplies and high-tech equipment, and designed life-support systems for the regeneration of water and breathing gas mixtures from Martian soil and the local atmosphere. At the same time, they addressed issues related to energy balance and the neutralization of toxic impurities.
According to the results of the Olympiad, the prize-winning places were distributed as follows.
Winners of the individual round (a total of 24 participants):
1st place: Danil Poletayev, School No. 134
2nd place: Maryam Kim, School No. 134
3rd place: Nurgalym Saken, Republican Physics and Mathematics School
Winners of the group round (Out of 12 teams, including the actively participating teams “Alpha and Omega,” “Arystan,” “Iondyk Naizagai,” “Quantum,” “The Breaking Bad,” “SU,” “ChemKids,” “Oxygen Starvation,” and “No Name”):
1st place: Team “Propyl-Alkyl”
2nd place: Team “Lubricators”
3rd place: Team “Chemstorm”
The official closing ceremony of the Olympiad and the award ceremony took place on April 17 in the E.E. Ergozhin Academic Council Hall. The participants highly appreciated the organization of the event, noted the engaging format of the non-standard tasks, and expressed great satisfaction with the friendly yet competitive atmosphere. The winners of the individual and group rounds were awarded cash prizes from the announced prize fund, with 100,000 tenge allocated for each round. Distinguished participants also received special certificates of honor for their creative approach to solving the tasks.
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