One gold, two silver, and two bronze medals were won by the Romanian team at the 27th edition of the International Astronomy Olympiad held in Beijing from November 6 to 14.

Romania's team consisted of five students, three juniors, and two seniors, including an invited student who won a gold medal in the previous edition, as per the Olympiad regulations. 

Romanian Dragomir Andrei-Darius (12th grade) won the gold medal and the special prize for the best competitor in the theoretical test at the Olympiad. Mendelsohn Mendel Emanuel (11th grade), and Ciocârlan David (11th grade) secured a silver medal each. Students Bichir Teodor and Pașca Nectarie won bronze, while 9th grader Palaghianu David received a participation certificate. 

Romania's team was coordinated by Petru Craciun, deputy general school inspector at the Suceava County School Inspectorate, and Elisabeta Ana Naghi, inspector at the Ministry of Education, both members of the Olympiad jury, according to the Ministry of Education.

Three tests were conducted during the Olympiad: a 4-hour theoretical test involving solving 5 to 7 astronomy problems, depending on the category (junior or senior); a practical test of night sky observation, on a blank map and with the help of a telescope, lasting 30 minutes, or 20 minutes per participant; and a practical data analysis test, involving the interpretation of data from observations made for meteorites, asteroids, and stars, as well as the construction of graphs based on tabular data in various coordinates. 

All tests were conducted in English, and for the participants' ease of understanding, the problems were translated into each candidate's native language by the team coordinators. The evaluation was carried out simultaneously by the Olympiad's Local Scientific Committee and the coordinators of each team, requiring participants to solve the problems in English.

radu@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Ministerul Educatiei on Facebook)