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Indonesia Olimpiade Sains Nasional (OSN) Biologi: Official Outline of the Path to IBO

Indonesia sends four students to the International Biology Olympiad (IBO). According to Indonesian news reports, the 2026 team won one gold, two silver and one bronze medal at the IBO in Vilnius, Lithuania (12 to 19 July 2026).5 This page outlines how the path to that team works according to the sources we could read. It is a map of the structure, not an insider’s account of what the exams feel like. We could not open Puspresnas, the organiser’s own site, and the news pages are in Indonesian, so many details rest on our own translation.

Programme
Olimpiade Sains Nasional (OSN, National Science Olympiad), biology subject, established 2002 according to the IBO1
Organiser
National Achievement Center (Puspresnas) of the education ministry; TOBI at ITB writes the tests1
Who can enter
Senior high school students in class X and XI who pass the school selection, registered by the school2
Stages
School, district or city, province, national final, national training camps, IBO team of four
Official website
tobi.web.id, as listed by the IBO; Puspresnas pages did not load for us
Language
Indonesian for the national programme; the IBO itself is in English

The path at a glance

Stage What happens How sure we are
School round The school selects students, at most five per subject going on, and registers them online Medium: one news report, our translation
District or city and province rounds OSN-K and OSN-P; in 2026 the district rounds were on 18 and 19 June Medium; province and final dates not confirmed
National final Held with other science olympiads; the IBO says about 75 to 100 students over one week Low to medium: the IBO figure is old
National training camps (Pelatnas) Several camps; 14 students at the first one in 2026, then a final four Medium: one news report
IBO team Four students, with a last camp in Bandung before the IBO Good: the IBO and news agree on four

Stage 1: school, district and province

A February 2026 news report says registration for the 2026 senior high school OSN ran from 1 to 28 February, that school operators register students through the ministry system rather than students signing up themselves, that students choose one of nine subjects, and that at most five students per subject go from the school to the district round.2 The same report gives the district round as 18 and 19 June 2026 and lists the stages as school, district or city, and province.2 The older labels OSK and OSP for the district and province rounds have been replaced in current news by OSN-K and OSN-P, which is our reading.

Stage 2: the national final

The IBO’s directory says about 5,000 students took part at district level and about 1,500 at province level, that 75 to 100 students reach the national round held over one week with other science olympiads in a rotating host province, and that exams are theory papers of 180 minutes, with practicals added at the national round.1 Those figures are old and the page’s statistics end in 2022, so we use them only to describe the shape.

Stage 3: national training camps and the IBO team

Medallists of the 2025 OSN entered the first and second national training camps, called Pelatnas, run by Puspresnas.3 For 2026 a news report describes Pelatnas I with 14 students, then a second camp, a final four, and a last pre-IBO camp in Bandung from 1 to 10 July 2026.4 The IBO’s directory describes a two week camp for the top 30 instead.1

Points for an Author

If you went through this programme yourself, these are the points we most need you to settle. They are grouped here so that nothing uncertain is buried in the text above.

Where the sources disagree

  • Who can enter. The IBO’s directory says last year of primary and first and second year of secondary, which looks stale or mistaken.1 The 2026 news report says class X and XI of senior high school.2 We follow the news report, which depends on our translation.
  • The camps. The IBO describes a two week camp for the top 30,1 while the 2026 news report describes 14 students at the first camp, further camps and a final four.4 The IBO page is probably out of date.
  • The programme name. Our dataset called this “KSN Biologi”. No source we read uses that name for the current programme; the IBO and news use OSN, and the ministry’s current name for itself in 2026 news is Kemendikdasmen while the IBO uses an older name.1,5
  • The 2024 result. Three silver medals at the 2024 IBO rests on a single third-party data site,6 so treat it as low confidence. We found no 2025 result.

Gaps a firsthand author could fill

  • The official rules (the juknis guidebook), which we could not open because the organiser’s pages did not load for us.
  • The date and format of the province round and the national final, and the language of the exams.
  • How the final four are chosen across the camps, and what the camps are like.
  • How a student at a school without a strong olympiad tradition gets through the school selection.
  • What students wish they had known.

A firsthand author can settle every one of these points. If that could be you, email us or read how it works.

BiOGuide tips for students aiming at this path

These are general tips from BiOGuide, not advice from an Indonesian participant, and they apply to any student aiming at an IBO team.

  • Train for the international format early. The IBO papers are in English and test reasoning on data and experiments, not only recall. The IBO preparation guide explains the format, and past IBO papers are in our practice papers.
  • Practise the practical side. The national round and the IBO include practical exams, so learn the lab techniques as well as the theory. Our notes on practical skills are a start.
  • Build the core theory. Work through cell and molecular biology, plant physiology and genetics first.
  • Learn the English terms. Even if you study in Indonesian, learn the English names of structures, processes and methods, because the IBO papers are written in English.
  • Use the official channels for anything dated. Registration windows, round dates and eligibility change every year. Your school operator and Puspresnas decide, not us.

Official links and sources

  1. International Biology Olympiad, country page for the Olimpiade Sains Nasional. ibo-info.org. The page is undated and its statistics end in 2022, so we use it for background only. It also lists tobi.web.id, whose pages carried no OSN rules or dates when we looked.
  2. Tirto, 8 February 2026, on registration, requirements and subjects for the OSN SMA 2026 (in Indonesian, our translation, news). tirto.id
  3. RRI, 23 February 2026, on madrasah students set for international science olympiads (in English, news; it does not name the IBO). rri.co.id
  4. JatimTimes, 16 July 2026, on the training camps before the IBO (in Indonesian, our translation, news). jatimtimes.com
  5. Gebrak.id, 22 July 2026, on the 2026 IBO result (in Indonesian, our translation, news). gebrak.id
  6. GoodStats, 19 July 2024, data article on the 2024 IBO (in Indonesian, third party, lowest confidence). data.goodstats.id

Puspresnas’s own sites did not load for us (a DNS error), so no figure here comes directly from the organiser.

This outline was last checked on 8 October 2026 and will age. Spotted an error or out-of-date detail? Email r6394175@gmail.com.