Pakistan team won a Bronze medals in 56th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO), held in Riyadh, KSA from July 21-30, 2024. The Pakistan team participated in the Olympiad under the sponsorship of STEM Careers program, which is a joint venture of Higher Education Commission (HEC) & Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Science (PIEAS). Mr. Abdul Rafay (Karachi Grammar School) won a Bronze Medals for Pakistan. The other team members included Ms. Mahnoor Rashid (Lahore Grammar School, Wah Cantt), Ms. Marva (Punjab College for Women Jaranwala Road, Faisalabad) and Mr. Syed Mehir Ali Shah (Dubai International Public School and College, Mansehra). The Chemistry team was trained at HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry, University of Karachi by Prof. M. Khalid Khan and Prof. Dr. M Raza Shah.
The team for participation in Internation Science Olympiads (ISOs) in Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics are selected through a National Science Talent Contest (NSTC) and up till now, 21 NSTCs have been conducted. The NSTC is conducted in 19 cities across Pakistan by PIEAS, which is working under the umbrella of PAEC. The students selected under NSTC are further trained for participation in ISOs at four Home Institutes (HIs) through STEM Careers Program. The top 50 students from NSTC are initially invited to residential training camps at the HIs for each subject. Through a series of training camps, this number is gradually reduced to the 4-6 best students in each subject who will participate in the ISOs. The STEM Careers program office in HEC manages the activities of these training camps and their subsequent travelling to ISOs. NIBGE-C (PIEAS) serves as the HI for Biology, the HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry at the University of Karachi for Chemistry, COMSATS-Lahore for Mathematics, and PIEAS for Physics. Pakistan has been participating in the International Physics Olympiad since 2001, the Mathematics Olympiad since 2005, and the Biology and Chemistry Olympiads since 2006. Since the program’s inception, over 365 students have participated in the ISOs, winning 146 medals. With more than 256 training camps, 4,200 students have received training at the HIs through this program.