The location chosen for the 5th edition of IESO is Modena. Modena is a small city of 183.000 inhabitants, in the north of Italy. It is settled in the Padania plan, which stems from the sediments brought  from the surrounding mountains by the Po river and its affluents. Modena is 34 meters above the sea level and surrounded by two rivers: Secchia and Panaro. Modena territory in the north is all plane, in the south it moves from plane to hill and then to mountains till the maximum height of Monte Cimone 2165 meters above the sea level. Modena is a wide province and is settled in the Emilia Romagna region that is close to the more famous Tuscany. It is world famous for Parmiggiano Reggiano cheese, Balsamic Vinager (Aceto Balsamico di Modena), and Ferrari and Maserati cars: both produced in this city. There is also an important tiles manufacturing district in Modena province that exports tiles all over the world and employs many geologists in quarries and in clay analysis.

Modena has been chosen as IESO location because there is a Earth Science Department interested in Earth Science Education and in IESO organization and because it is a quite city, close to the Bologna International Airport “Guglielmo Marconi”, just 40 minutes drive from Modena. Bologna airport is well connected to 49 international destinations and 6 intercontinental destinations.


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Italy has a great experience in hosting international science Olympiad, in fact three of the actual ten sciences Olympiads took place here and we are organizing even the International Olympiad in Informatics that will be held in 2012.

Italy hosted the following Olympiads:

  • 1993, Perugia, International  Chemistry  Olympiad – ICHO
  • 1999, Padova, International Physics Olympiad – IPhO
  • 2008, Trieste, International Astronomy Olympiad – IAO
  • 2011, Modena, International Earth Science Olympiad
  • 2012, Sirmione, International Olympiad in Informatics – IOI

In this section you will find info about Modena city: