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Meet Dubai teen who earned UAE's second Biology Olympiad medal without practical training
Dubai College graduate Dihui Yu ranked 116th globally at the International Biology Olympiad after weeks of intensive self-study
- PUBLISHED: Sun 16 Aug 2026, 1:40 PM
A 17-year-old Dubai College graduate who prepared for the International Biology Olympiad (IBO) largely on his own has made UAE history after winning a bronze medal at one of the world’s leading biology competitions for secondary school students.
Dihui Yu placed 116th in the final ranking at the 37th International Biology Olympiad, held in Vilnius, Lithuania, from July 12 to 19, earning only the second IBO medal ever won by a UAE student.
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His result surpassed the previous best UAE finish of 135th, achieved by Reem Rashid Alnaqbi at the 2023 IBO, according to the competition’s official results. The 2026 competition brought together more than 300 students from 78 countries.
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Yu's journey to the podium
After qualifying for the UAE team, he was told that the four-member delegation would not receive practical laboratory training. With practical examinations accounting for half of the IBO assessment, Yu said the news initially left him questioning whether a medal was possible.
“I would be going in blind for 50 per cent of the IBO, and whatever confidence I had built up over the weeks started cracking,” he said.
Instead of giving up, he decided to concentrate almost entirely on the theoretical component.
For about a month, he spent around six hours a day completing past papers and researching his mistakes. When he could no longer maintain deep focus, he switched to university-level lectures and videos. With textbook reading added, his daily preparation reached about 10 hours.
His resources included Campbell Biology, Molecular Biology of the Cell, official IBO past papers and online lectures from MIT OpenCourseWare, Ninja Nerd and Bozeman Science.
The strategy paid off. Yu ranked 84th in the theoretical papers, significantly higher than his overall position, although the practical examinations ultimately pulled down his final ranking.
Even there, however, some of his previous experience helped.
'I got lucky'
Two practicals involved techniques he had encountered before, including haemocytometry, colourimetry, ImageJ analysis and transcriptomics. Yu had previously undertaken internships at a medical laboratory and the National University of Singapore, while his A-level Extended Project Qualification examined differential gene expression.
“I really did get lucky with these two labs,” he said.
The other practicals were a different story.
One required him to dissect and classify five types of flies, a particularly uncomfortable prospect for a student who said he was “deathly scared of bugs” and had no experience with insect anatomy.
In an attempt to overcome his squeamishness before the competition, he bought an ungutted fish from a market and dissected it at home.
“I’m no longer scared of guts, but that was clearly useless,” he said.
He also ran out of time during the biochemistry practical despite knowing how to perform the protocol, which he attributed to his lack of laboratory preparation.
The result was nevertheless enough to secure a bronze medal, something Yu had stopped expecting by the time he arrived at the closing ceremony.
During the ceremony in Vilnius, medals were announced in ascending order. Yu said his heart sank as successive groups of students were called up, believing he would leave without a medal.
Then, towards the end of the bronze awards, the UAE flag appeared on screen.
“I was stunned for a few seconds, then began walking up to the stage with numb legs. None of it felt real,” he said.
The moment was captured on the official IBO livestream, with Yu visibly reacting as the UAE was announced before walking to the stage to receive his medal - from minute 1:18:45 to 1:20:30.
What is International Biology Olympiad?
The IBO brings together high school students from around the world to compete in theoretical and practical biology examinations. The 2026 event in Vilnius featured more than 300 competitors representing 78 countries.
For Yu, the competition also challenged his expectations about the students he would meet.
“I expected my rivals to be supernerds, like genetically engineered biology freaks who spoke in DNA,” he said.
Instead, he found students who were “some of the friendliest, most sociable, and down-to-earth people” he had met.
“Sure, they could be a walking encyclopedia or a weapon with a pipette, but at the end of the day they were just regular high schoolers like me who watched anime, listened to rock, and played sports,” he said.
He made friends from across the world and said they continue to communicate, with plans to work together on research projects and student-run olympiads.
How did Yu's journey begin?
For Yu, the enthusiasm for science behind the medal began long before the IBO.
His first encounter with chemistry came at the age of six, when he received a crystal-growing kit for Christmas and began experimenting with different materials and conditions to make the crystals as large as possible.
Around the same age, he became interested in biology while tending to and cooking with his family's vegetable garden.
“I actually wanted to be a botanist as a kid,” he said. He now wants to pursue a career in neuroscience research.
His interest in science continued through school. At Dubai College, he joined the STEM club, where students carried out experiments ranging from extracting DNA from strawberries to making cell models out of Haribos.
The club closed during the Covid-19 pandemic and did not return, so Yu revived it in Year 12 and began spending his lunchtimes running experiments for younger students.
He explained the science behind activities including making ice cream with dry ice, simulating rocket engines with “whoosh bottles” and demonstrating polymerisation while making slime.
“I never really felt pressured to study because I enjoyed every minute of it,” he said. “I hope this new generation of students can feel the same way.”
There's more to Yu than laboratories
His interests also extend beyond laboratories and textbooks.
Yu has been a Boy Scout for 10 years and enjoys hiking and spending time in nature. He has fostered fish, a rabbit, parrots and even peacocks.
For his Eagle Scout project, he used his chemistry knowledge to build water filters for more than 1,500 construction workers who did not have access to free drinking water.
Science fiction has also influenced his interests. His favourite books include Dune, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Project Hail Mary and The Martian.
He particularly likes Dr Ryland Grace, the biologist protagonist of Project Hail Mary, describing him as “probably one of the coolest characters to ever exist”.
When did his competitive journey begin?
His competitive science journey began more seriously in Year 11, when he joined Dubai College’s olympiad club looking for “a fun challenge”, despite knowing little about the competitions beyond the fact that they would be difficult.
His A-level chemistry teacher and olympiad mentor, Ms Jardaneh, began training him through weekly lunchtime sessions, covering topics beyond the school curriculum including thermodynamics, organic chemistry and spectroscopy.
He subsequently earned a high distinction in the Royal Australian Chemical Institute’s International Chemistry Quiz, placing in the top 10 per cent of more than 100,000 competitors, and finished fifth nationally in the Junior Science Olympiad.
In Year 12, he was the highest-ranked student at his school in the Royal Society of Chemistry Olympiad and later placed 10th nationally in the UAE Chemistry Olympiad.
He also tried biology, finishing fifth nationally in the qualifiers and earning selection for the UAE team for the International Earth Science Olympiad in China. The team ultimately could not attend after one teammate was unable to travel.
This year, while completing his A-levels, Yu decided to give the olympiads one final attempt and focus entirely on biology.
Entering the UAE biology qualifiers independently
Since Dubai College follows the British curriculum, the school traditionally participates in UK-based academic competitions. Yu entered the UAE biology qualifiers independently after Jardaneh encouraged him to try them as “extra practice”.
He placed third nationally in the second round before progressing to the national training camp and ultimately securing a place on the four-member UAE team.
The preparation period was unusually compressed this year. Yu said the national selection process, normally held earlier, was delayed, meaning he was only notified that he had made the team on May 28, coincidentally during his graduation ceremony.
From June 1 to July 4, the team received about six hours of online lessons each week covering areas including biochemistry, molecular and cell biology, plant biology, biosystematics, anatomy and physiology.
Yu said the team did not receive funding for laboratory facilities for practical preparation and that team members also paid for their own flights.
Despite the pressure, he said he remained grateful to the coaches who trained the team and hopes the experience will encourage more UAE students to take part in science olympiads.
“I’m the type of person that gets super obsessed and spends all day thinking about a problem or reading up on a topic I don’t understand,” he said. “Olympiads gave me exactly that.”
“The best part is, the more I learn, the more I realise I know absolutely nothing.”
Now, having completed his final school-level international competition, Yu hopes more schools and students in the UAE will get involved.
“Infrastructure for olympiads is still very early-stage in the UAE,” he said. “I’d like to see more schools and students participating, so we can use the talent hidden out there.”
“I hope future teams get the training and time they deserve, and I wish them the best time of their lives.”
