Biologian olympialaiset

Trough the website of The Association of Biology and Geography Teachers in Finland (BMOL), http://www.bmol.fi/.
Advertisement in a special magazine (called Natura) for teachers of biology and geography,  http://www.bmol.fi/natura_0109_valmis.pdf.
A yearly designed poster sent to all upper secondary schools in Finland (both Finnish and Swedish spoken). An icon example from year 2009 attached.
All information is given by The Committee of National Biology Olympiad in Finland.

All upper secondary schools in Finland are following the the national curriculum of education. Teachers  of upper secondary schools are sent a poster and a letter including an introduction of IBO and an invitation to National Competition. 

Taking part is totally free of cost to schools. The first and only round of The National Competition for schools takes place in January. Tasks are sent from BMOL to every participating school. The biology teacher of a participating school is responsible for arranging the competition for her/his students at the same point of time in all the country. The answers are sent to BMOL for final rating and for best 10 students are given an opportunity to take part in the final training in April/May in the University of Helsinki. At the end of training there is a final test on grounds of which the Finnish team is chosen.

The type of test in National Competition is multiple choice and usually there are 40 tasks. Tasks are made by The Committee of National Biology Olympiad in Finland, which is a subcommittee of the BMOL. Students make their tests at their schools guided by the teacher of biology.

Before the training, in February/March, Campbell´s Biology has been sent to 10 students qualified for training by the Office of BMOL. The aim is to familiarize the students with English terms and biological issues. To help them getting started they also receive some tasks (questions) in Finnish from the text of Campbell. These tasks are made again by The Committee of National Biology Olympiad in Finland.

The final training is arranged in April/May during 10 days; 9 days for lectures, laboratory exercises and a day for a final exam. 

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Mainly Campbell et al, lectures, handouts made by teachers responsible of training. 

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An Honorary Diploma for the 10 qualified for training, no financial or material prizes are given. A Faculty of Biochemistry in Tampere University gives a chance to study Biochemistry and Biotechnology without an exam of boards. 

Media coverage is minimal:

After National Competition and Training an information letter to press/media is delivered by the Office of BMOL. and Helsinki University
After IBO, in July a letter to press/media is delivered by the University of Helsinki. All information to these letters is given again by The Committee of National Biology Olympiad in Finland. Local newspapers do show interest to a competition abroad. 

Ministry of Education gives money through The Finnish National Board of Education (FNBE) to the BMOL, which then pays all the costs. This is the only financial support and it covers all the costs. The Committee of National Biology Olympiad in Finland consists of voluntary teachers of biology and the organizing scientists and students from the University of Helsinki, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences of Faculty of Biosciences (http://www.helsinki.fi/bioscience/). 

Not counted excactly, around 150 upper secondary schools from 400, around 1000 students yearly.