How does Chinese Taipei choose its IBO team?

According to the IBO, students sit an initial round, a second round, a semi-final and a final of about eight students, and the team of four is drawn from the final. The sources we could read do not say how the last four are ranked.

Why does this page say Chinese Taipei?

The IBO lists the team and its national body as Chinese Taipei, and we follow the IBO's naming for IBO matters. The site's country list calls it Taiwan. We have flagged the naming for the site owner.

Who organises the programme?

The IBO lists the Chinese Taipei Biology Olympiad Committee, hosted by the Department of Biological Sciences at National Sun Yat-sen University in Kaohsiung.

Is this guide written by a participant?

No. It is an outline of the official picture from published sources, with tips from BiOGuide. We are looking for an olympiad participant or coach from Taiwan to write a firsthand guide and replace this one.

Chinese Taipei Biology Olympiad (Taiwan): Official Outline of the Path to IBO

Taiwan competes in the International Biology Olympiad (IBO) under the name Chinese Taipei, and this page follows the IBO’s naming for the team and its national body.¹ Taiwanese news reports that at the 37th IBO in Vilnius, Lithuania (12 to 19 July 2026), all four students won gold and the team ranked first.⁴ This page outlines how the path 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.

Programme: Chinese Taipei Biology Olympiad Committee, established 1999¹
Organiser: Hosted by the Department of Biological Sciences, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung¹
Who can enter: Upper secondary students in practice; the sources we read give no formal grade or age rule
Stages: Initial round, second round, semi-final, final, training, IBO team of four
Official website: The IBO lists ctbo.org.tw and ibo.nsysu.edu.tw, but neither opened when we tried
Language: The IBO lists Chinese (Taiwan) for the website; the exam language is not stated

The path at a glance

Stage	What happens	How sure we are
Initial round	A multiple choice theory exam in December, about 6,000 students	Medium: from the undated IBO page
Second round	Theory, about 200 students, in January	Medium
Semi-final	Multiple choice, short answer and practical, about 40 students, in April	Medium
Final	Practical, theory and oral exams, about 8 students, in April at NSYSU	Medium
Training and IBO team	About 14 days of practical training, then four students	Medium for training, low for how the four are picked

The four rounds

The IBO’s page lists four selection rounds: an initial multiple choice theory exam in December with about 6,000 students, a second theory round in January with about 200, a semi-final in April with about 40 that combines multiple choice, short answer and practical parts, and a final in April at National Sun Yat-sen University with about 8 students taking practical, theory and oral exams.¹ News reports from 2025 and 2026 use slightly different stage names (a preliminary, a second round or semi-final, a selection camp and a final camp).^3,4 Those names are our own translation from Chinese. Reported entries were 2,874 students from 164 schools in 2025 and 2,885 students from 187 schools in 2026.^3,4

Training and the IBO team

The IBO’s page says the team receives about 14 days of practical training in laboratories at National Taiwan University and NSYSU, and that study materials include high school textbooks, Campbell’s biology text, and past IBO and national papers.¹ It describes the final stage as cutting about eight finalists to four, while the news reports we read say four students are chosen.^3,4 The Ministry of Education and its K-12 Education Administration are reported to announce results and pay medal rewards, and NSYSU staff lead the team.^2,4

Recent results

A 2017 Ministry of Education page reports four gold medals at the IBO in the United Kingdom.² News reports give one gold and three silver medals and 8th place among 78 countries in 2025,³ and four gold medals and first place in 2026.⁴

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

Stage names and the number of rounds. The IBO lists an initial round, a second round, a semi-final and a final,¹ while the 2025 news report lists a preliminary, a second round, a selection camp and a final camp, and the 2026 report lists a preliminary, a semi-final, a selection camp and a final camp.^3,4 The stage names there are our translation.
Entry numbers. The IBO page cites about 6,000 initial round students and a 2020 figure of 5,027 students from 164 schools,¹ while the news reports give 2,874 for 2025 and 2,885 for 2026.^3,4
The country name. The IBO and the team use Chinese Taipei, and a 2021 news report says the team objected when the closing ceremony used a different label. This site’s country list calls the place Taiwan, so we flagged the naming for the site owner rather than deciding it.

Gaps a firsthand author could fill

The formal eligibility rule (grade or age) and the language of the exams.
How the final four are ranked and chosen from the final.
The current dates, since the stage dates above come from an undated IBO page.
What the rounds, the camps and the oral exam are actually like, and 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 a participant from Taiwan, 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 semi-final and final include practical exams, so learn lab techniques as well as theory. Our notes on practical skills are a start.
Build the core theory. The committee’s professors are grouped into cytology, zoology, botany, genetics and ecology, which line up with our notes on cell and molecular biology, animal anatomy, plant anatomy, genetics and ecology.
Learn the English terms. Even if you study in Chinese, learn the English names of structures, processes and methods, because the IBO papers are written in English.
Use the official channels for anything dated. Dates and eligibility change every year. The committee and your school decide, not us.

Official links and sources

International Biology Olympiad, country page for the Chinese Taipei Biology Olympiad Committee. ibo-info.org. The page is undated and its figures look like a mix of years, so we use it for the structure only.
Ministry of Education, Taiwan, 18 September 2017, on the IBO team (in English). english.moe.gov.tw
United Daily News, 27 July 2025, on the 36th IBO (in Chinese, our translation). udn.com
United Daily News, 19 July 2026, on the 37th IBO (in Chinese, our translation). udn.com

Neither website address that the IBO lists for the committee opened when we tried (one did not resolve and one refused the connection), so everything here comes from the IBO page and news. Facts from the udn.com reports depend on our translation from Chinese.

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