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All four Vietnamese students have won medals, including two golds and two silvers, at the 60th International Mendeleev Chemistry Olympiad, held in Moscow, Russia, from April 15 to 23, according to the Ministry of Education and Training.
Students from VNU HUS High School for Gifted Students made up 2 out of 4 team members, and both won medals, including Nguyen Thai Minh – Gold Medal (ranked 11th) and Nguyen Huu Tue – Silver Medal.
A shared sense of pride and excitement marked the team’s achievement, as “Vietnam” was repeatedly announced among top winners at this international competition. Notably, Ngo Hoang Minh, a chemistry major student from Hanoi–Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, ranked second overall, achieving the second-highest score among all participants.
Describing the result as beyond expectations, Minh expressed gratitude to his family and teachers, noting that competing alongside outstanding peers from countries such as Russia and China was a valuable experience.
The three remaining team members - Nguyen Thai Minh and Nguyen Huu Tue from the High School for Gifted Students under Vietnam National University, Hanoi, and Nguyen Cong Thanh from Chu Van An High School- also placed within the top 30.
This marks Vietnam’s second official participation in the competition, and the the results further demonstrate the capability, confidence, and rapid integration of Vietnamese students into the global academic arena.
Head of the Vietnamese delegation, Professor Nguyen Hung Huy, praised the team’s performance, highlighting Ngo Hoang Minh’s exceptional achievement as a particularly significant milestone.
“Earning such a high distinction at the competition is both prestigious and highly challenging, and that this is the first time a Vietnamese student has attained this level of recognition,” he told Moscow-based VOV correspondents at the awards ceremony.
The International Mendeleev Chemistry Olympiad is among the most prestigious competitions for secondary school students in the field of chemistry, operating under internationally recognised regulations endorsed by UNESCO. This year’s edition gathered around 200 top students from 37 countries and territories.
Chinese contestants achieved multiple top distinctions, including first and third overall rankings, as well as awards for best theoretical and experimental performance. Hosts Russia led the medal tally with numerous gold, silver, and bronze medals. Gold medals were also awarded to participants from Kazakhstan, Hungary, and Israel, while silver medals went to teams from Uzbekistan, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Belarus, and Mongolia.
According to Alexander Gladilin, head of the Jury, this year’s results reflect the continued strength of leading nations in nurturing young chemistry talents. He emphasised that in a highly competitive global environment, traditional strong teams such as Russia, China, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, and Hungary all demonstrated outstanding performance.
The 60th edition of the Olympiad was held under the auspices of the “Decade of Science and Technology in Russia” initiative announced by President Vladimir Putin. It was jointly organised by the Faculty of Chemistry of Lomonosov Moscow State University and the Melnichenko Foundation.
Alongside the International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO), the Mendeleev Chemistry Olympiad is considered one of the most prestigious and challenging academic competitions in chemistry for high school students worldwide.
