Western New York Section of the American Chemical Society

Chemistry Olympiad

Chemistry Olympiad Logo

The Chemistry Olympiad is a local, national, and international competition designed to stimulate and promote achievement in high school.
Chemistry Olympiad in Western New York
Registration
Procedure		 Preparation Rewards History
in WNY		 Funding Other
Olympiad Sites		 Contact
General Information
 The Chemistry Olympiad is a local, national, and international competition designed to stimulate and promote achievement in high school chemistry. The Chemistry Olympiad begins locally, as high school chemistry students compete by taking a screening exam that consists of 60 multiple-choice questions. In the Western New York Local Section of the American Chemical Society, the top eight students* take a national exam that consists of both written and laboratory segments.The US National Chemistry Olympiad is sponsored by the American Chemical Society.  The top twenty-two students across the USA travel to a two-week study camp at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado.  Four students from this camp represent the USA in the International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO), held each summer.

* To promote widespread participation within a local section, no more than two students per school may sit for the national exam. A complete listing of US National Chemistry Olympiad rules explains all the conditions for the competition.

Goals of the US National Chemistry Olympiad:

  • to stimulate all young people to achieve excellence in chemistry;
  • to recognize outstanding chemistry students, and by doing so to encourage additional learning at a formative time in their intellectual development;
  • to recognize the excellent achievement of the teachers of these students and the importance of the school environment in which they learn;
  • to promote contact between ACS local sections and area schools to foster the interest and influence of professional chemists in the teaching of chemistry;
  • to foster cross-cultural experiences and to acquaint students with similarities and differences between themselves and their counterparts in other nations; and,
  • to challenge the chemical knowledge and skills of students in an international arena.
Calendar of Events
 Local exams are usually given in March, national exams in April, the National Study Camp in June, and the International Chemistry Olympiad later in the summer.

  • Submit registration information to the USNCO by December 15, 2025.
  • Your participation in the USNCO will be confirmed by the ACS Local Section Coordinator in early 2026.
  • The Local Section Examination will take place February 28, 2026, at the University at Buffalo.
  • The National Exam will be given at Canisius University
    April 11, 2026.
Registration Procedure
  1. All participating students must first register online with USNCO before December 15, 2025.  Registration does not guarantee participation in the program.
  2. The Local Section Coordinator will contact all participants in January, 2025.
  3. There is no limit to the number of students, from any one school, who may take the Local Section Examination.
  • All students competing in the Chemistry Olympiad must be U.S. citizens!
  • ACS rules do not allow for more than two students from one high school to take the national test. Therefore, if more than 2 students from one high school qualify for the national level, only two will be able to advance.

USNCO Student Registration Form        

Did you know that…

  • The Chemistry Olympiad competition does not require any extra work commitment from a teacher! The Chemistry Olympiad is run entirely by the coordinators, representing the WNY section of the ACS.
  • All travel expenses for students who qualify to the US team are covered by the American Chemical Society.
  • Numerous attractions and monetary awards await students and their teachers!

Special Note to Students:

If you are interested in participating, please contact a chemistry
teacher at your high school with the information on this web page (and with your enthusiasm!).

Preparation
for the Competition

Rewards
 Monetary awards at the Western New York Level

History of the
Chemistry Olympiad
in WNY
 Our Success in the Past   Within the last twenty years sixteen local students have qualified for the study camp and five local students have been chosen as members of the U.S. team for the International Olympiad. In 2007, for the first time in the history of the section, TWO students qualified for the Study Camp (Brian Chmielowiec a junior at St. Joe’s and Elizabeth Peng, a junior at Williamsville South).Participating High Schools since 1996Western New York Section Olympiad Teams Since 1986

Major Funding

Solstice Advanced Materials, Inc, formerly Honeywell, Inc.

Other Chemistry Olympiad Sites
 Homepage of the U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad.National Team participants compete for a chance to represent the US at the International Chemistry Olympiad competition, IChO.  Web pages for IChO competitions may be found below.

58th IChO: Tashkent, Uzbekistan, 2026
57th IChO: United Arab Emirates, 2025
56th IChO: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 2024
55th IChO: Zurich, Switzerland, 2023
54th IChO: Tianjin, China, 2022
53rd IChO: Osaka, Japan, 2021
52nd IChO: Istanbul, Turkey, 2020
51st IChO: Paris, France, 2019
50th IChO: Bratislava, Slovakia, Prague, Czech Rep. 2018
49th IChO: Nakhom Pathon, Thailand 2017
48th IChO: Tbilisi, Georgia 2016
47th IChO: Baku, Azerbaijan 2015
46th IChO: Hanoi, Vietnam 2014
45th IChO: Moscow, Russia 2013
44th IChO: Wash., DC, USA 2013
43rd IChO: Ankara, Turkey, 2011
42nd IChO: Tokyo, Japan, 2010
41st IChO: Cambridge, England, 2009
40th IChO: Budapest, Hungary, 2008
39th IChO: Moscow, Russia, 2007
38th IChO: Gyeongsan, Korea, 2006
37th IChO: Taiwan, 2005
36th IChO: Kiel, Germany, 2004
35th IChO: Athens, Greece, 2003

Contact

For questions and more information about the WNYACS Chemistry Olympiad, contact the Coordinators:

Sherry Chemler, schemler@buffalo.edu (716) 645-4225
Krit Marohn, marohnk@canisius.edu (716) 888-2348

Home Page for the Western New York Local Section of the American Chemical Society

©2003-2024 Western New York Local Section of the American Chemical Society
and the American Chemical Society.
The Goals of the US National Chemistry Olympiad are set by a
subcommittee of the ACS Committee on Education.
Original page design by Patricia Springsteen.