The Indian student team has achieved a historic performance at the 22nd International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL) 2025, held in Taipei, Taiwan from July 21 to 27. The team secured a gold, a bronze, and two honorable mentions, along with an honorable mention for the team itself. This marks the first time since India began participating in the IOL in 2009 that all team members have won individual awards.
The IOL is one of the 13 major International Science Olympiads. It tests students’ logic, pattern recognition, and analytical thinking skills by challenging them with complex linguistic problems from rare or under-documented languages. Participants are not required to have prior knowledge of linguistics or any specific language. Instead, they must use data and deduction to crack linguistic puzzles, such as decoding grammar rules from scratch.
This year's competition involved 227 contestants from 57 teams representing 42 countries and territories. The Indian team's success in Taipei marks several firsts for the country. It is the first time that each member of the team has won an award since India's debut in 2009.
The Indian team comprised Vaageesan Surendran (Chennai), Advay Misra (Delhi NCR), Nandagovind Anurag (Hyderabad), and Siripurapu Bhuvan (Hyderabad). Vaageesan Surendran, a 15-year-old Class 11 student from Chennai, won the gold medal. Advay Misra, a 12-year-old from Delhi NCR, secured the bronze medal. Nandagovind Anurag, an 18-year-old from Bengaluru, and Siripurapu Bhuvan, a 15-year-old from Hyderabad, received honorable mentions.
Vaageesan is passionate about languages and can read 34 different scripts, including Brahmi, Tibetan, and Georgian. He taught himself to read ancient scripts by exploring inscriptions at temples and museums. He speaks English, Tamil, Hindi, Sanskrit, and a bit of Mandarin. Advay Mishra, the youngest medalist at age 12, is a student at The Heritage Experiential Learning School in Gurugram. He has a passion for word puzzles and coding and has previously won Academic B, Science Bee, and International Geography Bee. Nandagovind Anurag was preparing for the Maths Olympiad but developed an interest in puzzles while solving online logic puzzles. Siripurapu Bhuvan is known for his calm and focused nature, and his precise reasoning was instrumental to the team's success.
The team was led by Prof. Parameswari Krishnamurthy from IIIT-Hyderabad. Anshul Krishnadas Bhagwat, an undergraduate researcher at IIIT-Hyderabad and a past IOL participant, accompanied the team as an observer. Prof. Krishnamurthy has been mentoring IOL aspirants since India's first participation and also serves as the Organizing Chair of the Panini Linguistics Olympiad (PLO) Board. The students attended pre-departure camps in Hyderabad, where they practiced with previous years’ problems, worked in teams, and familiarized themselves with linguistic theory. Prof. Krishnamurthy noted that the 2025 team had a rare balance, with a mix of ages, regions, and strengths. She emphasized the importance of their collaborative spirit, stating that it was as crucial as their individual skills.
The journey to the IOL begins with the Panini Linguistics Olympiad (PLO), the national qualifier in India. The PLO is open to middle and high school students and consists of two rounds. Top scorers from the first round advance to the Asia Pacific Linguistics Olympiad (APLO) and a linguistics camp hosted by IIIT-Hyderabad, where they receive training in problem-solving techniques.
