[Unpad.ac.id, 27/11/2013] As many as 254 participants attended the 2013’s Pertamina National Science Olympiad held in the Building B Auditorium of Unpad Service Center for Basic Science on Wednesday (27/11). They consisted of 249 students participated in the provincial level of Theory category and Science Projects category along with 5 students who completed the preliminary round.
Pertamina National Science Olympiad is a science competition for students from universities all over Indonesia and has become an arena for self-expression, creative works, and achievement for the younger generation. The event has taken place every year since 2008, and Unpad has always been involved as a partner university in organizing it.
The competition was held at 36 partner universities in 33 provinces simultaneously throughout Indonesia. As for the West Java region, the competition was held at Universitas Padjadjaran, Bandung Institute of Technology, University of Indonesia, and the Bogor Institute of Agriculture. The event held at Unpad opened by the Dean of Unpad Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Prof. Dr. Budi Nurani R. MS.
Interviewed during the event, the head of Student Development Center of Unpad Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Budi Irawan, S.Si., M.Si, explained that the competition was not only participated by Unpad students, but also by students from various universities, among which are State Islamic University Sunan Gunung Djati, Indonesian Institute of Cooperative (Ikopin), Garut Academy of Teacher Training and Education (STKIP Garut), Universitas Swadaya Gunung Jati, Cirebon, and Universitas Siliwangi, Tasikmalaya.
In the Theory category, four areas were competed, namely Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. “The participants are not necessarily from the related academic background. For instance, there are Geological Science students participating in Chemistry, or Mathematics students competing in Economics. The most important requirement is that they have to be in the first semester,” said Budi.
The winner of Theory category for every area in the regional level is the participant with the highest score for each field in each region (there are 10 regions). There are 40 regional winners, namely 4 winners in each field from10 regions.
Budi explained that the participants who pass the provincial and national level selection process and are eligible to go to the national selection round are those who win in Theory category in each field at the regional level, and those who win in Cross-disciplinary Theory category from each province.
As for the Science Project category, it encompasses three fields, namely Software Application, Design Build, and Featured Products. During the event, participants had a poster presentation at the specified location. Previously, participants also had to send the proposal to be assessed by the jury.
“Hopefully, participants from Unpad can make it to the final round,” said Budi. In the future, Budi also hope there will be a coaching program for this activity as part of the university program. Because the participants are not only the students from the Faculty of Science, but also any Unpad students who have true potentials in the areas competed,” he concluded. *
