Indonesia to host young scientist competition

Dina Indrasafitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 02/15/2010 7:59 PM

Indonesia is scheduled to host the 17th International Conference of Young Scientist (ICYS), to be attended by at least 160 students from 19 countries, in April this year.

Monika Raharti, the director of the Young Researcher Development Program at the Surya Institute, which would help facilitate the conference and training of Indonesian scientists to participate in the event, said this would be the first time the conference would be held outside Europe.

Indonesia's success in last year's conference in Poland, where Indonesia grabbed six gold medals and secured the overall champion title, helped the country to gain the host title as well, she said.

"We had suggested the idea of hosting the conference, but after we won the medals, the decision was clear," Monika said.

The conference will be held in Sanur, Bali, from April 12 to 17. As of Monday, 19 countries had registered students. Monika said registration would close in March.

Up to 12 Indonesian students will participate in this year's conference, Monika said.