International Informatics Olympiad comes to Australia

The University of Queensland will host the 2013 International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI), one of the International Science Olympiads for high school students throughout the world, sanctioned by UNESCO.

The 2013 IOI will be held on campus under an arrangement between The University of Queensland and the Australian Mathematics Trust.

This will be the first time the IOI has been hosted in Australia.

“There was quite a buzz after the announcement — people are already looking forward to it, four years ahead of time,” said Dr Ben Burton, a new lecturer in the School of Mathematics and Physics at The University of Queensland, and team leader of the successful bid.

"The Olympiad will be a great opportunity for Olympians from around the world to visit and experience everything that The University of Queensland and Brisbane have to offer."

The IOI brings together teams from around the world to compete in a range of computer science challenges.

The competition tasks are of algorithmic nature; however, the contestants have to show such basic IT skills as problem analysis, design of algorithms and data structures, programming and testing.

Students compete on an individual basis, with up to four students competing from between 80 to 90 registered countries.

It is estimated that 700 people will attend the event, including competitors, team supervisors, guests and keen computer scientists.

The Olympiad will run over eight days and most of the activity will occur on the St Lucia campus.

The IOI is one of the International Science Olympiads. The primary goal of the IOI is to stimulate interest in informatics (computing science) and information technology.

The Olympiad also aims to bring together exceptionally talented students from various countries and to have them share scientific and cultural experiences.

The first IOI was held in Bulgaria in 1989. It was proposed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and is one of five academic Olympiads for high school students throughout the world.

For more information contact Ben Burton (bab@maths.uq.edu.au) or Lynelle Ross, Communications and Marketing (l.ross@smp.uq.edu.au).

Media: Lynelle Ross (07) 3346 9935