Physics Olympiad

The International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) is an annual physics competition for high school students. It is one of the International Science Olympiads. The first IPhO was held in Warsaw, Poland in 1967.

Each national delegation is made up of at most five student competitors plus two leaders, selected on a national level. Observers may also accompany a national team. The students compete as individuals, and must sit for intensive theoretical and laboratory examinations. For their efforts the students can be awarded gold, silver, or bronze medals or an honourable mention.

The theoretical examination lasts 5 hours and consists of three questions. Usually these questions involve more than one part. The practical examination may consist of one laboratory examination of five hours, or two, which together take up the full five hours.

History

The idea of creating the International Physics Olympiad was conceived in Eastern Bloc countries, inspired by the 1959 established International Mathematical Olympiad. Poland seemed to offer the best conditions at the time, and so the first IPhO was held in Warsaw in 1967, organized by Czesław Ścisłowski. Some months prior to the competition, all Central European countries were invited, and the five countries Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and Romania participated. Each country sent a delegation of three students and one supervisor. Already in this first edition, the competition consisted of two exams, one theoretical and one experimental, and the students went on excursions while their exams were marked.

The second IPhO was held in Hungary, with the additional participation of the German Democratic Republic, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. Subsequent editions were carried out in the following years in Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, Bulgaria and Romania. At that sixth IPhO in 1972, France joined the competition as the first Western country and Cuba as the first non-European country. With growing size and organizational effort (and no participation fee at that time), no country was willing to arrange an IPhO in 1973. To hold up the competition, Poland volunteered to host another IPhO in 1974, but the problem soon reappeared: With the Federal Republic of Germany, Sweden and Finland, additional Western countries had joined the IPhO, and the Eastern Bloc countries decided in 1977 that they would only host every other IPhO. As the Western countries were not yet ready with the necessary long-term preparation effort, no IPhO was held in 1978 and in 1980. The first Western Country to host the IPhO was the Federal Republic of Germany in 1982. Since then, the IPhO has been held regularly every year except 2020 due to the pandemic, and the organization has become a prestigious endeavor that many countries are happy to take.

The number of participating countries has grown steadily over the years. After the initial set of Eastern Bloc countries, many European countries joined since the 1970s, as well as Asian and American countries starting in the 1980s. Between 1990 and 2000 alone, the total number increased from 32 countries to 63. African countries have been joining since the 2000s. After accession into IPhO, every country must notify the others within five years about its willingness to host the IPhO. The venue of the Olympiad is decided for years ahead. With over 80 actively participating countries today, each IPhO is a big event with around 700 attendees and a total budget of several million euros. A small fraction of the cost is covered by a participation fee of around €3500 per team, which was introduced in 1997 on a voluntary basis and made obligatory in 2013.Minutes of the Meetings of the International Board during the IPhO 2013
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The formal structure of the IPhO was established in 1968 at a dedicated meeting in Czechoslovakia, soon after the second IPhO. There the statutes and the syllabus were officially accepted by the International Board, which consists of the delegation heads from all participating countries. The team size was finally set to five students in 1971, and in 1976 the number of experimental problems was set to one or two, while there are three theoretical problems in each competition. In 1984, the IPhO established a permanent secretariat and a president's office. This position was held by Waldemar Gorzkowski until the 2007 Olympiad, then Maija Ahtee (2007–2008), Hans Jordens (2008–2018) and Rajdeep Singh Rawat (2018 onwards). Since 1984 the IPhO has collaborated with UNESCO for moral support and publicity. An advisory committee, consisting of 14 experienced people, was introduced in 1996.

Distribution of medals

The minimal scores required for Olympiad medals and honourable mentions are chosen by the organizers according to the following rules: A gold medal should be awarded to the top 8% of the participants. A silver medal or better should be awarded to the top 25%. A bronze medal or better should be awarded to the top 50%. An honourable mention or better should be awarded to the top 67%. All other participants receive certificates of participation. The participant with the highest score (absolute winner) receives a special prize, in addition to a gold medal.

The current ten countries with the best all-time results are as follows as of July 2024:

Summary

*In some contests, Taiwan uses Chinese Taipei as their team name.

Hall of Fame

1. Igor Gotlibovych (Germany)
Achievements: 3 Gold medals (2003–2005).

Notability: One of the few contestants with three consecutive Gold medals.

2. Dan Ștefan Eniceicu (Romania)
Achievements: 3 Gold medals (2014–2016).

Notability: Consistent dominance during his participation years.

3. Akihiro Watanabe (Japan)
Achievements: 3 Gold medals (2015–2017).

Notability: Key contributor to Japan’s rising prominence in IPhO.

4. Vlad-Ștefan Oros (Romania)
Achievements: 3 Gold medals (2021–2023).

Notability: Recent standout performer from Romania.

5. Alexandru Momoiu (Romania)
Achievements: 3 Gold medals (2022–2024).

Notability: Part of Romania’s recent dominance in IPhO.

6. Andrei-Darius Dragomir (Romania)
Achievements: 3 Gold medals (2022–2024).

Notability: Another top performer in Romania’s 2020s cohort.

7. Manfred Lehn (Germany)
Achievements: 2 Gold, 1 Silver (1979, 1981, 1982); Absolute Winner in 1982 13.

Notability: Historic figure and one of Germany’s earliest stars.

8. Mojmír Šob (Czechoslovakia)
Achievements: Absolute Winner in 1969 with a perfect score (48/48).

Notability: First contestant to achieve a perfect score.

9. Sándor Szalay (Hungary)
Achievements: Absolute Winner of the first IPhO in 1967 (39/40).

Notability: Pioneer of the competition.

10. Sergey Korshunov (Soviet Union)
Achievements: Absolute Winner in 1975 (43/50) 3.

Notability: Represented the Soviet Union during its IPhO dominance.

11. Jan de Boer (Netherlands) & Sorin Spânoche (Romania)
Achievements: Joint Absolute Winners in 1984 (43/50).

Notability: Rare instance of shared top honors.

12. Patrik Španĕl (Czechoslovakia)
Achievements: Absolute Winner in 1985 (42.5/50).

Notability: Continued Czechoslovakia’s legacy in physics.

13. Oleg Volkov (Soviet Union)
Achievements: Absolute Winner in 1986 (37.9/50).

Notability: Last Soviet-era Absolute Winner listed.

14. Katerina Marinova Naydenova (Bulgaria)
Achievements: 1 Gold, 3 Silver medals (2011–2014).

Notability: Exceptional consistency across four participations.

15. Carsten Geckeler (Germany)
Achievements: 2 Gold, 1 Silver (1993–1995).

Notability: Key figure in Germany’s 1990s success.

16. Attila Szabó (Hungary)
Achievements: 2 Gold, 1 Silver (2011–2013).

Notability: Highlighted Hungary’s strong physics tradition.

17. Taavet Kalda (Estonia)
Achievements: 2 Silver, 2 Bronze medals (2014–2017).

Notability: Rare multi-year medalist from Estonia.

18. Salih Adem (Türkiye)
Achievements: 2 Gold, 2 Bronze medals (1992–1995).

Notability: Early standout from Türkiye.

19. Mojmír Simerský & Tomasz Kręglewski
Achievements: Joint Absolute Winners in 1968 (35/40).

Notability: First shared victory in IPhO history.

20. Maksim Tsipine (Soviet Union)
Achievements: Absolute Winner in 1979 (43/50).

Notability: Continued Soviet dominance in the late 1970s.

Notable Contestants

1. Steven Gubser (USA)
Gold medalist and top scorer at the 1989 IPhO, Gubser was a professor at Princeton University renowned for his work in string theory and the AdS/CFT correspondence.

2. Leopoldo Pando Zayas (Cuba/USA)
Silver medalist at the 1989 IPhO, Pando Zayas is a professor at the University of Michigan specializing in string theory and quantum gravity.

3. Andrey Varlamov (Ukraine/Italy)
Winner of the 1971 IPhO, Varlamov is a condensed matter physicist known for his work on superconductivity and fluctuation phenomena.

4. Davide Gaiotto (Italy)
Gold medalist at the 1995 IPhO, Gaiotto is a theoretical physicist at the Perimeter Institute, recognized for his contributions to quantum field theory and string theory.

5. Jan de Boer (physicist) (Netherlands)
Gold medalist at the 1984 IPhO, de Boer is a professor at the University of Amsterdam, specializing in string theory and quantum gravity.

6. Jiun-Huei Proty Wu (Taiwan)
Former IPhO participant and current professor at National Taiwan University, Wu focuses on cosmology and has been instrumental in Taiwan's IPhO training programs.

7. Natalia Toro (Canada/USA)
Silver medalist at the 1999 IPhO, Toro is a physicist known for her work in particle physics and contributions to the development of new detection technologies.

8. Andrew Neitzke (USA)
Bronze medalist at the 1994 IPhO, Neitzke is a professor at Yale University with research interests in mathematical physics and string theory.

9. Kevin Zhou (USA)
Gold medalist at the 2012 and 2013 IPhO, Zhou is known for his work in theoretical physics and contributions to physics education.

10. Anand Natarajan (USA)
Gold medalist at the 2009 IPhO, Natarajan is a researcher in quantum computing and theoretical computer science.

11. Chris Hirata (USA)
Silver medalist at the 1996 and 1997 IPhO, Hirata is a professor at Ohio State University, specializing in cosmology and astrophysics.

12. Andrew Houck (USA)
Bronze medalist at the 1996 IPhO, Houck is a professor at Princeton University, focusing on quantum computing and superconducting circuits.

13. Rhiju Das (USA)
Gold medalist at the 1995 IPhO, Das is a professor at Stanford University, known for his work in computational biology and RNA structure.

14. Sang-Joon Pahk (USA)
Gold medalist at the 1995 and 1996 IPhO, Pahk has contributed to research in physics and engineering.

15. Paul Lujan (USA)
Gold medalist at the 1995 IPhO, Lujan is involved in research in high-energy physics.

16. Boris Zbarsky (USA)
Gold medalist at the 1997 IPhO, Zbarsky has contributed to theoretical physics and software development.

17. Vincent Liu (USA)
Gold medalist at the 2016 IPhO, Liu is pursuing advanced studies in physics, with interests in condensed matter and quantum mechanics.

18. Sonny Chan (Canada)
Former IPhO participant, Chan is a research scientist at Meta Reality Labs, working on cutting-edge technologies in augmented and virtual reality.

19. Felip Crnogorac (Canada)
Former IPhO participant, Crnogorac is the Director of Technology at Centrillion Technologies, focusing on biotech innovations.

20. Boris Braverman (Canada)
Former IPhO participant, Braverman is a senior research scientist at QuEra Computing, specializing in quantum computing technologies.

21. Alex Barnett (mathematician)

22. Chen Yuao

23. Harald Pfeiffer

See also

* International Olympiads in various sciences
* International Young Physicists' Tournament (IYPT)
*Asian Physics Olympiad
*International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics

References

External links

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Physics competitions
International Science Olympiad
Annual events