Successes at the German final of the International Junior Science Olympiad 2025, Hannover

The International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO) is a competition in which young people tackle exciting challenges in science subjects. This year’s German final saw 39 school students, the best-performing of 3,800 initial participants, meeting from September 22 to 26 at Leibniz Universität Hannover. The university’s Institute of Inorganic Chemistry lent its lecture halls and labs to host the stiff tests the competitors faced, encompassing an experimental and two theoretical exams. But it wasn’t all work and no play, with an accompanying program of events giving the young participants, aged 15 and under, the opportunity to see the Hannover sights and make new friends.

The German finalists of the IJSO 2025. Image: Hannah Mahnke
The German finalists of the IJSO 2025. Image: Hannah Mahnke

The week’s culminating highlight was the awards ceremony in Hannover’s Old Town Hall. Marco Hartrich had come from Lower Saxony’s Ministry for Education to be at the event, and was impressed by the young competitors’ thirst for knowledge; he expressed his thanks to the IPN for its role in organizing Science Olympiads. The Dean of Leibniz University’s Faculty of Natural Sciences, Prof. Dr. Stefanie Heiden, used her speech to encourage the finalists to take a positive approach to the challenges of the future and to praise all those who had supported the young people, such as their parents and teachers. Prof. Dr. Elina Fuchs from the University’s Institute of Theoretical Physics gave the celebratory lecture, speaking of her research into particle accelerators, dark matter, and the Higgs boson. Two winners of the Germany-wide young musicians’ contest Jugend musiziert, Marta Pesel and Sonja Nußbaum, provided musical accompaniment for the event.

At the ceremony, the top six competitors were presented with gold medals. They are Simon Jordan from Munich, Jinrui Kou from Mannheim, Tom Edgar Asche and Martin Könnicke from Dresden, Jan Magnus Müller from Ilmenau, and Devang Nellooli from Regensburg. Sadly, the winners will not be able to take part in the contest’s international round, as Germany will not be sending a delegation to Sochi, Russia, where it is being held. Instead, the young scientists will enjoy a stay in Kiel and Hamburg, featuring shared activities and visits to a range of research institutions.

The German gold medalists of 2025’s IJSO, from left: Simon Jordan, Jinrui Kou, Tom Edgar Asche, Martin Könnicke, Jan Magnus Müller, and Devang Nellooli. Image: Hannah Mahnke
The German gold medalists of 2025’s IJSO, from left: Simon Jordan, Jinrui Kou, Tom Edgar Asche, Martin Könnicke, Jan Magnus Müller, and Devang Nellooli. Image: Hannah Mahnke

Since 2008, the IPN has been the organizer of the IJSO, which takes place with the generous support of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. A team from the IPN worked alongside alumni of the competition to look after the participants in Hannover.

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