5th International Olympiad in Electrochemistry – “International Olympiad in Electrochemical Material Science”

On November 19, 2025, the 5th International Olympiad in Electrochemistry — “International Olympiad in Electrochemical Material Science” — was held. The organizers and sponsors of this Olympiad were the “Laboratory of Electrochemical Production Technologies” and the Department of Analytical and Colloidal Chemistry and TRE of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University.

The Olympiad was conducted online in a practical format: team representatives positioned a camera facing the laboratory workbench so that the jury could directly observe the participants’ work. Upon completion of the 3-hour Olympiad, participants were required to submit a report on the completed tasks in electronic printed form, in English. All reports were carefully reviewed and evaluated by the jury committee. Representatives from various countries took part both in organizing the Olympiad and serving on the jury:

1. PhD Fedor Igorievich Malchik – Al-Farabi Kazakh National University
2. Dr. Netanel Shpigel – Ariel University, Israel
3. Prof. Ilie Hanzu – TU Graz, Austria
4. Prof. Thierry Jenizian – Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint-Etienne, France
5. Doctoral student Yaroslav Svyatoslavovich Zhigalenok – Al-Farabi Kazakh National University
6. Doctoral student Säken Qınabekuly Äbdimomyn – Al-Farabi Kazakh National University

The prize fund of the Olympiad amounted to 5000 euros. Sponsors:

1. Laboratory of Electrochemical Production Technologies
2. WTC Group
3. Labtex
4. ALEMTRADE COMPANY
5. Kazakh-American Free University
6. CIQTEK

Twelve teams representing 13 universities from 8 countries participated in the Olympiad:

1. “Energetic people”, INM Leibniz Institute for New Materials, Germany
2. “Hotpot”, Helmholtz Institute Ulm, Germany
3. “Sodiumites”, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan
4. “Analytics NUUz”, National University of Uzbekistan, Uzbekistan
5. “chemfusion”, Navoiy State University, Uzbekistan
6. “NUU's chemists”, National University of Uzbekistan, Uzbekistan
7. “Alchemists”, National University of Uzbekistan, Uzbekistan
8. “E0 Collective”, "Babes-Bolyai" University, Romania
9. “Spark”, National Nuclear Center, Kazakhstan
10. “Crocodiles”, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Kazakhstan
11. “AMEX”, KBTU, IFCE, Kazakhstan
12. “Smart Materials”, East Kazakhstan University named after S. Amanzholov, Kazakhstan

On November 21, the awarding ceremony and the review of Olympiad tasks were held.

The winners of the Olympiad were:

1st place – “Hotpot”, Helmholtz Institute Ulm, Germany

2nd place – “Crocodiles”, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Kazakhstan

3rd place – “Energetic people”, INM Leibniz Institute for New Materials, Germany