UNAIR NEWS – Universitas Airlangga held the Airlangga Science Olympiad (OSA) on January 13 to 14, 2024. About 2,066 students from 566 schools in Indonesia joined the competition, which was divided into the fields of Science & Technology and Social & Humanities.

The Olympiad was conducted using the Computer Based Test (CBT) in six exam rooms, including the Lab of the Shared Lecture Building C; Computer Lab of the Information Systems Department, Faculty of Science and Technology (FST); Computer Lab of the Mathematics Department FST; Pertamina Computer Lab of FST; Computer Lab of the Faculty of Public Health (FKM); and Nanizar Zaman Joenoes Building Computer Lab. The exam is administered in 4 sessions over 2 days.

Chief Executive of OSA, Badrus Zaman SKom MSc stated that it’s the first-ever competition to be held at the university level. Despite that, the participants were highly enthusiastic, given the short registration period and execution.

“There were 2,066 participants, which exceeded our target,” he said.

The competition was held to improve educational quality in science and technology, aiming to evaluate high school students’ abilities in both scientific and social disciplines.

Participants will receive certificates that can be used as an academic achievement for 12th-graders. There won’t be champions for 1st, 2nd, or 3rd winner. Instead, they will be given certificates with scores based on the material tested.

“There are no 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place winners. Participants will receive certificates with scores for each tested subject, so many participants may attain gold-level scores,” he said.

Students can use the certificate to apply for university admissions through the SNBP (State University National Selection) or Independent Achievement tracks at UNAIR and other universities.

“Hopefully, participants will compete to the best of their abilities, resulting in the highest possible results,” Badrus hoped.

Keysha Amira Hanny, a student from SMAN 1 Tenggarong, and M. Luthfi Adam Alaqla, a student from SMA IT Nurul Ilmi, shared their experiences participating in OSA. They come all the way from East Kalimantan to get more experience and win certificates to enhance their SNBP points.

Despite their social majors, the two are eager to compete in a science competition to be considered for a cross-major program in medicine. They’ve already won several certificates in regional and national science competitions.

“We’re hoping that UNAIR would recognize our OSA certificate so that we can study at Indonesia’s fourth-best university,” they said.

Participants can download certificates through their separate accounts from January 17 until January 31, 2024.

Author: Khefti Al Mawalia