How does Türkiye choose its IBO team?

Students take a first stage exam in May, those above the pass mark attend a summer school, a second stage exam in Ankara follows, medallists attend a winter school, and team selection exams and camps decide the team. TÜBİTAK's 2026 call does not state the team size.

Who organises the programme?

TÜBİTAK, the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye, through its Science Olympiads Programme, with a separate committee for each branch. The IBO lists Prof. Dr. Leyla Açık as coordinator.

TÜBİTAK's 2026 call lists grades 8, 9, 10 and 11 and the preparatory class for biology. Final year high school students cannot apply. Students apply individually through e-Bideb.

Is this guide written by a participant from Türkiye?

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 Türkiye to write a firsthand guide and replace this one.

Türkiye National Biology Olympiad (TÜBİTAK): Official Outline of the Path to IBO

Türkiye (the IBO’s spelling; the site’s country list says Turkey) sends students to the International Biology Olympiad (IBO) through the Science Olympiads Programme run by TÜBİTAK, with biology as one of nine branches.² TÜBİTAK reports that its 2025 team won two gold and two silver medals at the IBO in Quezon City.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: TÜBİTAK Science Olympiads Programme, biology branch; the IBO lists it as the National Biology Olympiad, established 1993^1,2
Organiser: TÜBİTAK, Ankara, with a biology olympiad committee^1,2
Who can enter: Grades 8 to 11 and the preparatory class, applying individually; final year students cannot apply³
Stages: First stage exam, summer school, second stage exam, winter school, team selection exams and camps
Official website: bilimolimpiyatlari.tubitak.gov.tr
Language: Turkish for the programme pages; the biology exam language is not stated in what we read

The path at a glance

Stage	What happens	How sure we are
First stage exam	A multiple choice exam on one Saturday in May at provincial centres, after online application	Good, from the 2026 call; the biology question count and duration were unreadable
Summer school	For students above the pass mark	Medium
Second stage exam	Held in Ankara, written and or practical; medals are handed out	Medium: the 2026 date is “to be announced” in the call
Winter school	For second stage medallists and some nominated students	Medium
Team selection exams and camps	Decide the titular and reserve team members, after approval by the Ministry	Medium; dates are not published

The first stage

The 2026 call says applications ran from 12 January to 17 April 2026 through the e-Bideb system, and that the first stage exam was a single multiple choice session on Saturday 16 May 2026 at centres in all 81 provinces and in Lefkoşa (KKTC), at the same time for all branches.³ Students apply to one branch only and no school quota applies.³ The call says the biology committee sets the pass mark and that calculators are allowed in biology.³ The TÜBİTAK site reports that the results of the 34th first stage were announced on 30 June 2026.²

Later stages

Students above the pass mark are invited to a summer school, and up to ten extra grade 8, preparatory or grade 9 students within 30 percent of the pass mark may be admitted.³ A second stage exam follows in Ankara, written and or practical, and the call says national medals may be distributed roughly as 4 gold, 8 silver and 12 bronze for each branch.³ Second stage medallists, plus some students nominated by the committee, attend a winter school, then team selection exams and team camps.³ Invitations come by email and dates are not published in what we read.³

The IBO team

The call says titular and, if needed, reserve team members are determined from the team selection exams, with earlier stage results used if the committee judges it necessary, and that the teams are confirmed after approval by TÜBİTAK’s board and the Ministry.³ Past team members may skip the first stage, and a student who has already represented Türkiye twice at an IBO is not invited to the winter school or team exam, because the IBO limits participation to two times.³ TÜBİTAK reports two gold and two silver medals in 2025 and three silver and one bronze in 2023.^4,5

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

The stages themselves. The IBO page describes three stages (a May school based multiple choice exam, December and February to March exams in Ankara) and a two week camp,¹ while TÜBİTAK’s 2026 call describes a first stage exam, summer school, second stage, winter school and team selection exams.³ The IBO page looks out of date and we followed the TÜBİTAK call.
The name of the programme. The IBO calls it the National Biology Olympiad,¹ while TÜBİTAK’s own text refers to national science olympiads with biology as a branch.² We found no body named TBiyO.
Entry size. The IBO page gives about 1,000 first round participants for 2021 and says participation is declining;¹ we found no current biology figure.

Gaps a firsthand author could fill

The biology exam format (question count and duration), which was unreadable in the call as we extracted it, and the exam language.
The dates and format of the second stage and the team selection exams, and the size of the IBO team.
How many students attend each school, and what the exams and camps are actually like.
What students wish they had known, and how students from smaller towns find their way in.

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 Türkiye, 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 second stage may include a practical, and the IBO has practical stations, so learn lab techniques as well as theory. Our notes on practical skills are a start.
Build the core theory. Work through cell and molecular biology, animal physiology and genetics.
Learn the English terms. Even if you study in Turkish, learn the English names of structures, processes and methods, because the IBO papers are written in English.
Use the official channels for anything dated. Application windows, exam dates and rules change every year. TÜBİTAK’s annual call decides, not us.

Official links and sources

International Biology Olympiad, country page for Türkiye. ibo-info.org. The page is undated and out of date in places, so we use it for background only.
TÜBİTAK Science Olympiads, about the programme (in Turkish, our translation). bilimolimpiyatlari.tubitak.gov.tr
TÜBİTAK Science Olympiads, 2026 call document (PDF, 17 pages, in Turkish). bilimolimpiyatlari.tubitak.gov.tr. Our text extraction garbled some Turkish characters and the biology format row, so it rests on our reading and translation.
TÜBİTAK, 3 August 2025, on the 36th IBO result (in Turkish, our translation). tubitak.gov.tr
TÜBİTAK, 16 July 2023, on the 34th IBO result (in Turkish, our translation). tubitak.gov.tr

We did not check the Ministry of National Education, Anadolu Agency or any third-party site. Facts from the TÜBİTAK pages depend on our translation from Turkish.

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