How to participate?
How to Participate in the International Philosophy Olympiad (IPO)
Students eligibility: The International Philosophy Olympiad (IPO) is open to high school students from any country. To participate, students must be enrolled in high school at the time of the competition, or, in countries where the school year ends in December, in the year prior. Even if a student is currently enrolled in university, they may still participate if they meet this requirement. The maximum age limit for participants is 20 years.
IPO only accepts national delegations, not independent students, teams or schools: IPO is an International Organization that is based on the participation of national delegations, which are composed of up to 2 winner-pupils in nationwide competitions in philosophical essay writing, and by up to 2 accompanying philosophy teachers as well (accompanying teachers serve as the evalutaors at the IPO). Each country may send one or two students to the IPO, with the exception of the host country, which is allowed to send up to 10 students.
To qualify for the IPO, students must first take part in a national-level competition, organized either by a national philosophical society affiliated with the Fédération Internationale des Sociétés de Philosophie (FISP), if such a society exists, or by a philosophical organization linked to the high school philosophy curriculum. In exceptional cases, alternative selection methods may be used with approval from the IPO Executive Board. If no national philosophical society exists in a country, or if the existing society does not organize a national Olympiad, other approved procedures can be followed.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE?
Check for a National IPO Delegation:
First, verify if your country has a national IPO delegation. If it does, contact the delegation leader directly. If you are unable to reach the national delegation leader, you should reach out to the IPO Executive Board via email for assistance: board.ipo@gmail.com
What to do if your country does not have an existing national IPO delegation?
Contact IPO Executive Board for assistance: board.ipo@gmail.com. IPO Executive Board can assist in the creation of a new delegation if needed.
To create national delegation and national competition / selection process, the following basic elements are important to consider:
1. involvement of qualified philosophy teachers (or adult with philosophy background) that can also serve as delegation members and evaluators at the IPO.
2. creation of the open access national selection process (open to all the students from the country)
3. connection to FISP or FISP related institution or national/local philosophical society (if such a society or FISP institutions exists)
Everybody interested in participating at the IPO should be familiar with the IPO statute >>.
Important Notice for New Delegations
Admission of any new delegation is subject to approval by the hosts and the National Organising Committee of that year’s International Philosophy Olympiad. Approval depends on the organisers’ capacity to accommodate additional delegations