Day 2

Today, there was the Opening Ceremony of the Open World Astronomy Olympiad which Sirius is hosting for the third time. Young researchers were welcomed by Sergey Kravtsov, the Minister of Education of the Russian Federation. In his video, he wished the participants to enjoy solving the tasks prepared by international-level experts. The Minister expressed confidence that the Olympiad will become a venue for lively communication and will foster the birth of new ideas and strong connections within the international academic community.

Deputy Head of the ‘Talent and Success' Foundation and Director of the Sirius University of Science and Technology. He noticed that any olympiad is not just a competition, but also a platform for communication, networking, and sharing best practices and experiences. You can watch the recording of the broadcast here.

The participants took part in the Trial Round. This was necessary for them to familiarize with the technologies used and the competition platform. It helps to avoid possible technical problems and stressful situations during the main rounds. The main goal of the Trial Round is to ensure maximum comfort so that the students can fully concentrate on solving tasks and enjoy the process.

In the afternoon, there were the Artistic Presentations of the participating delegations. Anait Galstyan came to Sirius from Armenia. The young lady has been interested in astronomy since her childhood.

‘The olympiad in Sirius is my first international intellectual competition. I am sure that participating in OWAO will give me the opportunity to test my knowledge and skills, as well as find answers to acute questions. I am particularly interested in stellar astronomy. I enjoy studying the composition, structure, dynamics, and evolution of stars, as well as star systems and clusters. Right now, astronomy is more of a hobby for me, but in the future, I would like to make a professional career in this field,' says Anait.

Joël Alarcon is a bronze medalist at the International Olympiad on Ecology and Environmental Issues held in Sirius, as well as the winner of a national astronomy competition in Costa Rica. He believes that astronomy is the science of the past, present, and future.

‘I am happy to represent my country again at the international olympiad in Sirius. Cosmology is especially interesting to me as it studies the universe as a whole, exploring its structure, origin, evolution, and future, combining astronomy and physics. In the future, I plan to deepen my knowledge in aerospace engineering or mechanical engineering. I also dream of preparing school students so that they can represent Costa Rica well at international olympiads,' shares Joël.