Australian Computational and Linguistics Olympiad 2012

OzCLO is the Australian Computational and Linguistics Olympiad, a state and national competition for secondary students. It introduces students to language puzzles from which they can learn about the richness, diversity and systematic nature of language, while exercising natural logic and reasoning skills.

Linguistics is a wide-ranging discipline that explores the nature of human language. It’s concerned with what languages have in common and how they are different, how they are structured, how they are learnt, how they are used in different cultures and societies, and how they change over time. The particular focus in OzCLO is on logical thinking as it relates to discovering how languages work. You can get an idea of what this means from the sample problems in the Preparation Package (downloadable).
No prior knowledge of other languages, linguistics or computer programming is necessary.

OzCLO has been running since 2008, and attracts teams from schools around Australia.

Linguistics at UWA is organising the WA State Round and is looking forward to our best and brightest secondary students going on to compete in the National Round. We’re also hoping that the National top team will be able to travel to the international competition later in the year. For 2012 we are introducing the option to compete in the WA State Round either at UWA or online from your school.

Who?

The competition is designed for students from Years 9 to 12. Past experience shows that there is appeal across humanities and science interests. Students who like language and languages, maths, computers, or natural sciences are likely to be interested in this competition. In fact, any secondary school student who enjoys the sample problems in the OzCLO Preparation Package is a potential contestant! Secondary students don't usually know much about linguistics and computational linguistics, so they might not know if they are interested until they try a few sample problems themselves. In the competition, all teams will complete the same tasks, but teams will be ranked within their age level: Junior (Years 9-10), or Senior (Years 11-12). Teams consist of four
students.

What?

An optional training session will be held at UWA on February 22nd, 2012 for students who have not competed in OzCLO before.
At that session we will

• explain the details of the competition,

• talk about linguistics, computational linguistics and language technologies, and

• provide sample problems and give tips for solving them!

The on-campus WA State Round will be held at UWA on March 8th, 2012. Teams will compete in the paper-based form of the round in a two and a half hour session. There will be a limit on the number of teams that can take part on campus. So get in early!

Any secondary school can enter two teams of four students each. A third team can also be wait-listed in case an additional position becomes available. The teams from any school can be all Junior, all Senior or any mix.

The successful competitors in the WA State Round will receive prizes and certificates and will be invited to go on to represent WA in the National Round.

When?

Expressions of interest are welcome as soon as possible.

Registrations for on-campus mode will need to be received by Friday February 17th 2012 – but get in early!

• Training Session at UWA Wednesday, February 22nd 12:30–2:30

• WA State Round On-campus at UWA Thursday, March 8th 12:30–3:00

• In-school online Thursday, March 15th (time tba)

• National Round at UWA Thursday, March 29th 12:30–3:00

How?

You can register for the on-campus mode by completing the attached Registration Form and sending it to:

OzCLO
Linguistics (M258)
University of Western Australia
35 Stirling Hwy
Crawley WA 6009

or to linguistics@uwa.edu.au

Download the Information Sheet
Download the Registration Form
Download the Preparation Package

For assistance, please contact John Henderson on 6488 2870.

Further information

Registration details for the online mode will be available soon on the OzCLO National website: www.ozclo.org.au.

If you want to take advantage of the mixed mode, register for the WA State Round via the OzCLO National website, and also contact us at UWA by Friday February 17th to book places for the on-campus Training Session.

If you'd like to learn more about the history of the competition, to see more sample problems or download The Preparation Package, which has sample problems and solutions, visit the OzCLO website.

All participating students will be contacted through their teachers, as registration will be through the schools.
Schools which require sighting of UWA’s Certificate of Currency of insurance should contact insurance@uwa.edu.au well in advance of your visit to the campus.