Is your mind thirsty for knowledge and hungry for action? Perfect. Then take up the challenge. Compete with your intellect, think on your feet, and win across the board: friends, journeys, and medals.
What are you waiting for?
Am I ready?
Take the test:
1. Do you go to school in Switzerland or the Principality of Liechtenstein?
2. Are you not yet enrolled at any University?
3. Are you under 20 years old?
Three times YES? Then you’re ready to compete. To the Olympiad!
How it works
4 phases, 1 year, 1 goal
Phase 1 - THE WARM-UP
Attend workshops, prepare individually, and take the first exam.
Phase 2 - THE TRAINING
Benefit from expert coaching and specialized camps – prepare for the national final.
Phase 3 - THE COMPETITION
All Swiss champions compete against each other - and for the tickets to the International Olympiads.
Phase 4 - THE VICTORY
The best Swiss minds take the spotlight: they represent Switzerland at the International Olympiads in places such as Chiba, Hanover, Bandung, or other metropolises around the world.
Barrier-free participation?
Do you need specific assistance for your participation at the swiss X-Olympiad due to a physical impairment, handicap or chronic illness? Please contact the office of the Science Olympiad. We will do our best to ensure that everyone can participate fairly.
Biology
Do you want to dive into the depths of life?
Then take the biology test. If you pass, you go to the biology camp. Unique insights into life’s secrets await you there. For example, be walked through a heart dissection. Not yours, of course! Only your mind will be put to use: study the basics and go to the next level. The doors of Bern’s University laboratories will open for you: probe, ponder, and elucidate. And, perhaps, win a research internship or even a ticket to the International Biology Olympiad.
Chemistry
You fancy small particles?
Then take the chemistry test. If you pass, then EPF Lausanne, the University of Zurich, of Basel and of Bern await you with exciting research projects, full pipettes and brain cells that run hot. If you make it into the final week, you go to the laboratories of ETH Zurich in lab coats and safety glasses. After you get gold in the national final, you break through into the big world and represent Switzerland at the International Chemistry Olympiad.
Geography
Is climate change not fake news to you?
Then take the geography test. If you succeed, you go off to greener pastures: the geo-camp in the Swiss National Park. There, facts are all that matter: you capture, collect, and expertly analyze geographic data. You’re ready for the final countdown: only the best four people will make it to the International Geography Olympiad!
Informatics
Data highways are your home base?
Then take the informatics test. Show us that you know your way around the digital universe. Armed with codes and algorithms: plan an itinerary to the moon or turn a game villain into a superhero, armed only with codes and algorithms. You’ll be learning the craft at the University of Bern, ETH Zurich and Lausanne. If your programming skills are convincing, you’ll continue with the winter camp. After the national final, you may be our ENTER key for the International Olympiad in Informatics.
Linguistics
Do you enjoy languages and logical problems?
Then take the linguistics exam! One round further, you can train your language skills with other young people. At the finals, you'll prove your love of puzzles and find out why languages are rich. The best will represent Switzerland at the International Linguistics Olympiad.
Mathematics
Victory with Geometry?
Then take the math test. From tricky combinatorics and complex geometry to linear equations - can your brain spew out the logical result? Logical! Then you’re ready for the second round and the math camp. There, you find tips and tricks that catapult you to the final. Whoever wins, hits the jackpot. Not in singularity theory but in reality: participation times three in three International Math Olympiads.
Philosophy
Have you yet wondered if sense can make nonsense?
Then take part in the philosophy test. Catechize human existence and beg the questions of free-will, beauty, consciousness, or immorality. Then question the questions. Why, to what end and for what reason? What’s the meaning of all this? Perhaps it’s embedded in your essay? Is it original and coherent? Great! Perhaps then the semi-final makes sense? To be or not to be (the best)? That is the question since only the most gifted minds will represent Switzerland at the International Philosophy Olympiad.
Physics
Are space and time your matter?
Then take the physics test. It will raise big and small questions about such things as magnets, motors or how to bend light. If you make the jump, it’s time for the physics camp. With the knowledge garnered at the EPFL Physics Institute, you will beam yourself to the finals in Aarau, where Einstein himself once graduated from high-school. And, if you win there, you travel even further through space with your matter to the European and the International Physics Olympiads.
Robotics
Do you get the most out of microchips?
Then take the robotics test. You and your team will build a gainful robot. Reduce waste, tie shoelaces, or save the world like R2D2? Let your skills solve essential problems! What do you need? A coach and a love of tinkering and technology. Your robot will compete against others from all over Switzerland. If your machine is selected, you and your robot will travel to the World Robot Olympiad.
Economics
Can you maximize limited resources?
Then seize this opportunity and take the economy test: If you pass, the final awaits you. There you solve a case study and present it to a jury. If you are one of the top four students, you travel to the international competition. Before that, you practice with professionals from research and industry.
Confidants
We have an open ear for participants and volunteers who are looking for advice. We take your complaints and reports seriously and treat them confidentially.
