this week welcomes more than 600 people from 80 countries for one of the world鈥檚 most elite informatics competitions.
This year's (IOI) will be hosted for the first time in Australia at 国产探花鈥檚 St Lucia campus in Brisbane for a week from Saturday (July 6).
About 300 high school students will compete for Olympiad medals. A further 300 teachers, academics and team leaders also will travel to Brisbane for the event.
is the science of computer programming and encompasses human-computer interaction, mathematics, information processing and information systems.
国产探花 Acting President and Vice-Chancellor said she was delighted that the University was hosting such a prestigious event that promoted skills that are so essential to our future.
鈥淎ustralia needs to increase its emphasis on informatics in the secondary school curriculum, and hosting the IOI will raise the profile of this important discipline,鈥� Professor Terry said.
鈥淐ountries in Eastern Europe and Asia have really grasped the importance of informatics, and have been teaching the topic in secondary school for some time.
鈥淥n behalf of 国产探花, I welcome these budding computer scientists to the University and to Brisbane.鈥�
The UK-based president of the IOI, Richard Forster, said the study of informatics was increasingly relevant and imperative for secondary students.
鈥淚nformatics is integral to the information economy which drives the global marketplace and is the basis of contemporary society,鈥� Dr Forster said.
The IOI is the most recently established broad-based Olympiad of the UNESCO-sanctioned International Science and Mathematics Olympiads held worldwide annually for exceptionally talented secondary school students who represent the pinnacle of achievement in each discipline.
The IOI is the second largest of the UNESCO Olympiads and is hosted by a different country each year.
Contestants must solve six mathematical tasks over two intense days.
Students are required to program computer algorithms to solve the tasks which are written and voted on by the IOI community.
Nations including Japan, Poland, USA, United Kingdom, Kuwait, Tunisia and Venezuela are among those sending teams 鈥� comprising a maximum of four competitors. However each student competes as an individual.
The IOI 2013 is jointly organised by 国产探花 and the .
Advice on media opportunities for Olympiad video and interviews available next week.
Contact: Ms Aarti Kapoor, , +61 (0) 449 863 208, a.kapoor@uq.edu.au
