Department of Information and Tourism, Taipei City Government

Mayor Hau Lung-bin met with young talents participating in the National Science Exhibition and high school students representing Taipei City at the 2009 International Science Olympiad on January 20.
During his address, He encouraged the students not to be defeated by setbacks when conducting research. Hau cited Edison’s invention of the light bulb as an example of how trial and error can play an important role. He compared it to the process of solving mathematic problems; while the process can be taxing, the award and the accomplishment after finding the right solution is rewarding.
One of the participants, a high school student surnamed Ma, remarked that this was the second time she attended the National Science Exhibition. She recalled that when she entered the event years ago as a middle school student, she didn’t feel much accomplishment because her parents gave her too much help. However, as a high school student representing the city, she was able to invest her time and effort into the experiments, allowing her to enjoy the process of conducting research.
Ma is the first place winner of this year’s high school category.
The first International Science Olympiad was held in 1959. Categories in the International Science Olympiad include mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, informatics, geography, and more. The students from Taipei claimed a total of 11 gold medals and 5 silver medals in the 2009 competition.
The 2009 National Science Exhibition displayed 366 works by students around the island. Among the 47 works submitted by the students from Taipei, 32 won prizes at the showcase.