The Qualification Round is the first stage and consists of five chemistry problems: A, B, C, D, and E. The problems encompass a wide range of topics, varying in difficulty and discipline. The problems range from knowledge in chemistry to mathematical calculations to make sure that everyone finds interesting problems to work out!

Points and Submission

The problems will test your chemistry skills. All participants of the Qualification Round will receive participation certificates. Each problem gives 5 points, and you need to score at least 15/17/20 points (Junior/Youth/Senior, see age groups ) to qualify for the Semi-Final Round.

The submission deadline is Sunday, 29 March 2026, 23:59 UTC+0.

In order to avoid connection issues, upload errors, and other problems, please submit your solution before the official submission deadline (29 March 2026). The solution file may be typed digitally (recommended; e.g., TeX), or it may be a clear picture of your handwritten notes. If you have multiple pictures, you may use an online tool to combine the pictures into a single PDF file. Make sure that you write your name, school, city and date of birth correctly! The details will be used for all certificates. There are no fees or registration costs to participate in the Qualification Round.

Announcement of Results

The results of the Qualification Round will be announced on Monday, 13 April 2026. You will receive an e-mail about the results; however, you can also check your participant account for your results, performance report, and certificates online. Please log into your participant account so as not to miss any critical information:

Participants who solved the Qualification Round successfully are qualified to participate in the Semi-Final Round.

Problems and Points

The Semi-Final Round consists of six problems that vary in difficulty, points, and subject. There are three types of problems that give you four, six, and eight points:

• 2x Basic Problems (4 Points): The Semi-Final Round includes two basic problems (lower difficulty).
• 2x Advanced Problems (6 Points): The Semi-Final Round includes two advanced problems (higher difficulty).
• 2x Research Problems (8 Points): The Semi-Final Round includes two research problems: These problems require you to read two short scientific research papers and to learn about recent scientific results in order to solve the problems or questions. This will give you the chance to get in touch with scientific research while solving the problems.

It is possible to reach up to 36 points in total. Participants need to score at least 16/20/24 points (Junior/Youth/Senior, see age groups ) to qualify for the Final Round.

Process and Supervision

All participants who are qualified and registered for the Pre-Final Round will receive the problems via e-mail or via their participant account on Friday, 8 May 2026. From that day on, you have five days until Tuesday, 12 May 2026, to solve as many problems as possible. You can submit your solution online via a dedicated submission form. You can choose if you would like to submit the solution as a handwritten version or as a digitally typed document. We recommend writing the solution in the blank space on the problem sheets of the Pre-Final Round. Please highlight your final solutions.

Registration and Costs

If you succeed in the Qualification Round, you can choose to participate in the Semi-Final Round by registering from your participant account. This educational opportunity comes with diverse costs, including those for human resources, technical infrastructure, materials and more. While our sponsors cover some of these expenses, we need to ask participants to cover this year's Semi-Final Round registration costs of 12 EUR to make IChC on an international level possible. Financial aid is available to assist socio-economically disadvantaged participants: Learn More . The registration costs are necessary to provide the resources required to run a competition at this scale, including evaluation, in particular, for the comprehensive Semi-Final Round. There are no other costs involved. You can find detailed information about the registration costs here:




FAQ: Can I only participate in the Qualification Round and not in the Semi-Final Round? Yes, you can participate in the Qualification Round and receive your participation certificate and not register for the Semi-Final Round. However, in this case, you miss the opportunity to participate in any further rounds.

The registration deadline for the Semi-Final Round is Tuesday, 5 May 2026.

Participants who have solved the Semi-Final Round successfully are qualified to participate in the Final Round: a multiple-choice online exam with 20 questions.

Exam and Points

The Final Round consists of a supervised exam with around 20 questions requiring knowledge about chemistry, in particular related to the Qualification and Semi-Final Round. The exam takes around 30 minutes and features different problem formats, including free-form problems and multiple-choice responses. It requires knowledge of all fields of chemistry and the content of all previous rounds. The awards and prizes are given to the Finalists with the most points in the Final Round. If multiple participants have the same score, the points from the Semi-Final Round (and Qualification Round) are used to determine the final winners.

All Final Exams take place on Tuesday, 9 June 2026.

Online Monitoring

Finalists take the exam via a dedicated online exam portal. The online exam is digitally monitored and can be taken from home. Details regarding the exam procedure and monitoring setup will be sent to all qualified participants.

The results of the Final Round will be announced on Monday, 15 June 2026.

Further information on all rounds and the competition can be found here: Official IChC Flyer 2026