International Young Physicists' Tournament

The International Young Physicists’ Tournament, IYPT, is one of the World's foremost,^[1]^[2] largest and influential annual physics competitions centered on 17 non-examination research problems, team work, and discussion-based sessions called Physics Fights where the performances of the teams are judged by expert physicists.

The IYPT is a week-long event in which currently around 150 international pre-university contestants participate. During 1988-2013, around 40 nations with ca. 2500 students have taken part at such final events of the IYPT. The event is preceded by a variety of national competitions, conferences, and preparatory meetings, in which dozens of thousands of people are involved at various stages worldwide.

The participants present and discuss their research projects at the events that share common features with thesis defense or scientific conferences. The teams switch roles and take floor as Reporters, Opponents and Reviewers, thus learning about peer review early in their career. The IYPT is well established as a global hub of physics promotion that enjoys increasing influence and outreach.

It was later recognized that the IYPT-based projects often result in professional, peer reviewed publications before the authors complete a university degree, and the topics of the projects make a lasting impact on partner or rival activities in physics promotion and physics education research. Since the 1990s the IYPT is increasingly but informally acknowledged by the media as the Physics World Cup.

The concept of the event was conceived in 1979 by Evgeny Yunosov who initiated the first IYPT in 1988 and was awarded the Lenin Komsomol Prize in 1989. In 2013, the international organization of the IYPT was awarded the ICPE Medal, sponsored by the IUPAP's Commission on Physics Education, and the organizers of the IYPT have been awarded with a number of international prizes, including the Klaus-von-Klitzing-Preis in 2005, and the Roman-Ulrich-Sexl-Preis in 2010.

The Problems

The International Organizing Committee (IOC) decides about 17 problems to be used for the IYPT. These problems come from different disciplines of physics and are sometimes also interdisciplinary. The problems of the IYPT are not tasks which can be solved within a short time with known methods, like in an exam. They are deliberately formulated in a more open way. They can be viewed from different angles and there are many ways to handle them. The task of the participants (together with their teamleader) during the preparation phase is to get as much knowledge about the problems as possible. There are no restrictions on how to do so. This kind of problems is intended to put the students in the same situation as a regular researcher is in. The solution to the problems and even the way how to get the solution is completely unknown. Therefore, the problems for the IYPT are published more than half a year before the tournament. That gives all participants enough time to do experiments, research literature and the internet, maybe talk to some experts, etc. Teamwork and organizing ability certainly play an important role.

The Preparation Phase

One of the most important aspects, if not the most important aspect of the tournament is the preparation phase. The preparation aims at two main goals: On the one hand it is important to gather as much background knowledge on the problems as possible. That is necessary to confidently defend a solution in a discussion against an opposing team or to try to find weaknesses in the presentation of another team. On the other hand, it one main goal is to prepare a well-structured Report of all the knowledge acquired.

The Tournament

The tournament itself consists of several rounds which are called "Physics Fights", or just Fights. The first rounds are called the "Selective Fights". They can be compared to the group phase of soccer competitions. All teams participate in the Selective Fights. Since 2001 the IYPT consists of five Selective Fights. The three teams with the highest total sum of points after the Selective Fights reach the Final Fight, which eventually determines the winning team.

The Selective Fights

At the beginning of the tournament the teams draw lots to form groups of three teams each. If the total number of teams is not divisible by three then one or two groups with four teams are formed. Each of these groups then executes the first Selective Fight (in parallel). After that the teams change groups according to a scheme determined by the drawing of lots. This is necessary because otherwise there would be always the same teams competing in the same group. This procedure is repeated until all Selective Fights have been held.

The Structure of a Fight

A Fight consists of three or four so-called "Stages", depending on whether three or four teams compete in the Fight. This is due to the fact that during one Stage each team has a specific role to play. These roles are exchanged after each Stage so that after three (or four, respectively) Stages each team has played each role exactly once. The roles are:

Reporter
Opponent
Reviewer
only in groups with four teams: Observer

The specific meaning of these roles will be explained together with the course of a Stage.

The Course of a Stage

A so-called "Stage" is a part of a Physics Fight, comparable e.g. to one single run of a skiing race. A Stage lasts about 45–55 minutes and is executed without a break. Between the Stages of one Fight it is a custom to have 5–15 minutes break, depending on how much time is available.

At the beginning of a Stage teams and jurors are introduced and the chairman of the jury reads out which team will play which role in this Stage. After this informal part the actual Stage begins. Its course is precisely regulated by the tournament regulations. Each of the phases which will be described here has a maximum duration. These maximum durations may not be exceeded. Usually there is a special monitor available which displays a graphical representation of how much time is left in the current phase. The explanations given in the next few paragraphs shall only illustrate the structure and course of the events in a Stage. For a more detailed overview of the Stage regulations please confer the official tournament regulations which can be found on the official IYPT website (www.iypt.org).

After the mentioned introduction the actual Stage begins with the Opponent-Team challenging the Reporter-Team on one of the 17 problems. The Reporter-Team can either accept the challenge or reject it. If the challenge is rejected the Opponent-Team must challenge the Reporter on another problem. This procedure is repeated until the Reporter-Team accepts a challenge. If a team rejects a challenge too often during the whole tournament this team will lose some points.

If a problem has been selected the Reporter-Team has five minutes for preparation which are usually used to prepare notes, have a final look on the presentation or sometimes to prepare a live experiment for demonstration. After the preparation time the Reporter has a maximum of twelve minutes to present the Report. There are no formal requirements in which way exactly this has to be done.

After the presentation of the Report the Opponent-Team can ask a few clarifying questions. Then the Opponent also gets a few minutes preparation time before taking the stage to present an estimation on the presentation done by the Reporter, stressing its pros and cons. This speech by the Opponent is followed by a discussion between Reporter and Opponent in which the Reporter tries to defend the solution and the Opponent tries to criticize it.

Afterwards the third team, the Reviewer-Team can ask questions to both other teams and then (after a short preparation) present an overview of the performance of the Reporter and the Opponent.

In the end the Reporter may present some final concluding remarks.

And finally the jurors may ask some short questions to all three teams. After that the performances of the teams in the current Stage are graded. The grading concludes the Stage.

Fights with four teams have an additional role: The Observer. The Observer-Team does not take part actively in the course of the Stage. Therefore, the Observer team is not graded. The only meaning of the Observer role is to allow groups of four teams to be executed, if the total number of teams is not divisible by three.

After a short break the Fight is continued with the next Stage. The teams exchange their roles until each team has been the Reporter, the Opponent and the Reviewer (and in groups of four teams also the Observer) exactly once.

There are some additional details worth mentioning:

All communication between the teams and the jury is done in English.
The team members may not communicate with outsiders (e.g. the teamleader) in the course of a Fight.
Apart from that all kinds of aids (literature, laptops, dictionaries, notes,...) are allowed.
Only one team member is active as Reporter, Opponent or Reviewer during one Stage. That means that in general only this person represents the team during the Stage and talks for the team. Other team members are only allowed to make brief remarks or to assist with the presentation technically.
During one Fight no team member may be the active representative of the team more than twice. In other words: It is forbidden that the same person acts as Reporter, Opponent and Reviewer in the same Fight.

The Finals

The three teams with the highest scores after five Selective Fights participate in the Final. The Final is executed like a normal Physics Fight with two differences:

Each team chooses the problem to present on their own. There is no challenge.
Each team member may take the floor only once during the Final.

The best team in the Final is the winning team. The other two teams in the Final share place 2. 3rd Prize is awarded to all teams which have reached a certain minimum number of points, determined by the Organizing Committee.

Teams

Each invited country is represented by one team. Until 2007 the host country may be represented with two teams. The teams consist of five secondary school students. The participation of university students is not allowed. Each team is headed by a Captain who is the official representative of the team during the Fight. Moreover, each team is accompanied by two Team-Leaders (teachers).

Many countries have their own national qualification tournaments to determine their national team. E.g. in Austria the Austrian Young Physicists' Tournament is held.

The Jury

The Jury is nominated and organized by the host country. Team-Leaders may be included in the Jury, however not in Fights in which their teams participate. The Jury grades the teams with integer marks, which are weighted by the role of the teams (Reporter, Opponent, Reviewer).

Timeline table

Year	№	Venue	Host country	No. of teams	No. of countries	Gold winner(s)	Silver winner(s)	Problems (in English)	Website
1988	1st	Moscow	Soviet Union	31	3 ^[3]	Disputable ^[3]	Disputable ^[3]		None
1989	2nd	Moscow	Soviet Union	8	7	West Germany, Bulgaria	RSFSR-School 710, Moscow ^[3]		None
1990	3rd	Moscow	Soviet Union	6 ^[3]	5 * ^[3]	RSFSR-School 542, Moscow ^[3]	Latvian SSR-Riga, Netherlands ^[3]		None
1991	4th	Moscow	Soviet Union	7 ^[3]	6 * ^[3]	Hungary ^[3]	Poland, Soviet Combined team ^[3]		None
1992	5th	Protvino	Russia	12	10	Belarus, Czechoslovakia ^[3]	Netherlands, Russia ^[3]		None
1993	6th	Protvino	Russia	19	11	Georgia	Ukraine, Hungary ^[3]		None
1994	7th	Groningen	Netherlands	12	11	Czech Republic, Russia	Georgia	pdf	None
1995	8th	Spała	Poland	15	12	Germany	Czech Republic, Hungary	pdf	None
1996	9th	Tskhaltubo	Georgia	13	10	Czech Republic	Germany, Georgia-2	scroll to see	None
1997	10th	Cheb	Czech Republic	15	11	Hungary, Czech Republic	Belarus	pdf
1998	11th	Donaueschingen	Germany	18	16	Czech Republic	Germany-1, Poland
1999	12th	Vienna	Austria	19	17	Germany	Georgia, Austria-1
2000	13th	Budapest	Hungary	17	16	Poland-2	Germany, Russia
2001	14th	Espoo	Finland	18	16	Slovakia	Australia, Germany
2002	15th	Odessa	Ukraine	20	18	Poland	Belarus, Germany
2003	16th	Uppsala	Sweden	23	22	Germany	South Korea, Poland	pdf
2004	17th	Brisbane	Australia	26	24	Poland	Germany, Slovakia
2005	18th	Winterthur	Switzerland	25	23	Germany	Belarus, United States	pdf	, link unreachable
2006	19th	Bratislava	Slovakia	26	24	Croatia	South Korea, Germany
2007	20th	Seoul	South Korea	22	21	Australia	South Korea-2, New Zealand	pdf
2008	21st	Trogir	Croatia	21	21	Germany	Croatia, New Zealand
2009	22nd	Tianjin	China	27	27	South Korea	Austria, New Zealand	pdf
2010	23rd	Vienna	Austria	23	23	Singapore, Austria, New Zealand, South Korea	Germany, Chinese Taipei, Iran, Australia, Slovakia
2011	24th	Tehran	Iran	21	21	South Korea, Austria, Germany	Chinese Taipei, Iran, Slovakia, Singapore, Belarus
2012	25th	Bad Saulgau	Germany	28	28	South Korea, Iran, Singapore	Belarus, Germany, Chinese Taipei, Switzerland, Austria
2013	26th	Taipei	Chinese Taipei	26	26	Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland	Poland, New Zealand, Slovakia, Sweden, Brazil
2014	27th	Shrewsbury	United Kingdom	28	28	Singapore, Slovakia, Poland, China	South Korea, New Zealand, Chinese Taipei, Russia, Germany,
2015	28th	Nakhon Ratchasima	Thailand	27	27	Singapore, Poland, China	Slovakia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Russia, South Korea
2016	29th	Ekaterinburg	Russia	29	29	Singapore, Germany, Switzerland, Chinese Taipei	Korea, Slovakia, New Zealand, China, Hungary
2017	30th	Singapore	Singapore	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA
2018	31th	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA
2019	32th	TBA	Poland	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA

(*) the number of Nations can be disputed as some countries were midway towards a recognized independence

Teams participating in the IYPT

The following table that shows what National teams have taken part in IYPTs in different years. "H" means that the country hosted the respective tournament. "0", "1", "2", "3" correspond to the number of teams that represented the respective country. The data that needs verification is marked with interrogatory signs (?).

Country	1988	89	90	91	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	2000	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
Armenia	—	—	—	—	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Australia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	H, 2	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	1
Austria	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	H, 2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	H, 1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Belarus	—	—	—	—	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Brazil	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1
Bulgaria	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Canada	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
China	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	H, 1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Chinese Taipei	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	H, 1	1	1	1
Croatia	—	—	—	—	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Obs	1	1	1	1	1	1	H, 1	1	1	1	0	1	1	0	1
Cyprus	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Czech Republic	—	—	—	—	—	1	1	1	1	H, 2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Czechoslovakia	1	1	1	1	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	_
Finland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	Obs	1	1	1	H, 1	1	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
France	0	0	0	Obs	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	1	0	0	0
Georgia	—	—	—	—	1	1	1	1	H, 2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	0	1
Germany	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	1	H, 2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	H, 1	1	1	1	1
Hungary	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	H, 1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	1	1
Indonesia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	0	1	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	0
Iran	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	H, 1	1	1	0	1	1
Kazakhstan	—	—	—	—	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kenya	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	0	0	1	0
Macao	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1
Mexico	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	1	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Moldova	—	—	—	—	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Netherlands	0	1	1	1	1	1	H, 1	1	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
New Zealand	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	1
Nigeria	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	0
Pakistan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Poland	0	1	1	1	1	2	1	H, 2	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Romania	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1
Russia	—	—	—	—	H, 3	H, 6	2	2	2	3	2	2	1	2	1	1	2	2	1	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	H,1
Singapore	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Slovakia	—	—	—	—	—	1	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	H, 2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Slovenia	—	—	—	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	0
South Korea	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Obs	Obs	1	1	1	1	1	H, 2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Soviet Union	H, 29	H, 2	H, 2	H, 2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	_
Sweden	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	Obs	0	1	1	1	1	1	Obs	H, 2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Switzerland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Obs	0	0	Obs	Obs	1	1	1	H, 2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Thailand	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	1	1	H, 1	1
Ukraine	—	—	—	—	1	3	1	1	2	2	1	1	1	1	H, 2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	0	0	1	1	1
United Arab Emirates	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
United Kingdom	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	1	0	1	1	0	1	1	H, 1	1	1
United States	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	Obs	0	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Uzbekistan	—	—	—	—	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Source	^[3]	^[3]	^[3]	^[3]	^[3]	^[3]	^[4]	^[4]	^[4]	^[4]	^[4]

Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total medals
Germany	07 !8	10 !10	03 !4	20 !22
South Korea	05 !5	04 !6	03 !3	12 !14
Czech Republic	04 !4	01 !1	05 !5	10 !10
Poland	03 !5	04 !4	14 !15	22 !24
Singapore	03 !6	01 !1	01 !1	06 !8
Austria	02 !2	04 !4	08 !9	14 !15
Hungary	02 !2	02 !3	10 !11	14 !16
Belarus	01 !1	05 !5	11 !12	17 !18
Slovakia	02 !2	04 !6	10 !10	16 !18
New Zealand	01 !1	05 !6	04 !5	10 !12
Georgia	01 !1	03 !3	08 !8	12 !12
Russia	01 !1	03 !4	07 !7	11 !12
Australia	01 !1	02 !2	06 !6	09 !9
Iran	01 !1	02 !2	00 !0	03 !3
Soviet Union	01 !1	02 !2	00 !0	03 !3
Switzerland	01 !2	01 !1	04 !5	06 !8
Croatia	01 !1	01 !1	03 !3	05 !5
Bulgaria	01 !1	00 !1	03 !3	04 !5
Czechoslovakia	01 !1	00 !0	02 !2	03 !3
Chinese Taipei	01 !1	00 !4	02 !2	03 !7

Footnotes

External links

Official Website of the IYPT
IYPT Archive
National YPT Organisation in Austria, which sponsors the Austrian Young Physicists' Tournament
National YPT Organisation in New Zealand, which sponsors the New Zealand Young Physicists' Tournament
National YPT Organisation in Singapore, which sponsors the Singapore Young Physicists' Tournament
National YPT Organisation in the United Kingdom, which sponsors the United Kingdom Young Physicists' Tournament
National YPT Organisation in Iran, which sponsors the Persian Young Physicists' Tournament
National YPT Organisation in the Republic of Korea (in Korean), which sponsors the Korean Young Physicists' Tournament
National YPT Organisation in Brazil (in Portuguese), which sponsors the IYPT Brasil
National YPT Organisation in Slovakia (in Slovak), which sponsors the Slovak Republic Young Physicists' Tournament
National YPT Organisation in Switzerland (in German), which sponsors the Swiss Young Physicists' Tournament
National YPT Organisation in Taiwan (in Chinese), which sponsors the Taiwan Young Student Physicists' Tournament
National YPT Organisation in Georgia (in Georgian), which sponsors the Georgian Young Pysicists' Tournament
National YPT Organisation in Czech Republic (in Czech), which sponsors the IYPT CZ
Junior Youth Physicists' Tournament

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