The International Physicists' Tournament (IPT) is a physics competition for undergraduate students, bachelors or master level (or equivalent), in which students representing their nation and institution have typically 9 months to solve a set of challenging unsolved physics problems, then present and defend them to other teams. The tournament originated in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

in 2009 between Ukraine and the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, but it has since grown to encompass numerous countries spanning multiple continents. It was initially inspired by the

International Young Physicists' Tournament The International Young Physicists' Tournament (IYPT), sometimes referred to as the "Physics World Cup", is a scientific competition between teams of secondary school students. It mimics, as close as possible, the real-world scientific research ...

(IYPT) and follows a similar model. Undergraduates may be accompanied by team leaders, who are usually academic research staff or doctoral research students.

Description

Teams of up to 6 students are provided with a list of 17 problems which require a combination of experimental and theoretical approaches to their solution. The problems often have no exact solution and are not described directly in the scientific literature. Teams may also be accompanied by up to two team leaders (usually academic teachers, researchers or students), as well as supporting guests. A typical round in the tournament sees one team acting as a reporter, another acting as an opponent and a third acting as a reviewer. Under special circumstances a fourth team may also be present, which acts purely as an observer. After each round, the teams change roles and repeat until each team has played each role. Each of these roles is outlined below.

The Reporter

The goal of the reporter is to present their solution to the problem challenged by the opponent. The reporter ideally presents a solution that contains both a theoretical and experimental treatment of the chosen problem. The presentation should include an outline which helps the audience to develop a good physical intuition for the problem. The reporting team must also be able to defend their solution against criticism. This criticism is provided by the other teams and by a panel of judges called 'the jury' during the discussion that follows the reporting team's presentation.

The Opponent

The opponent's job is to challenge the reporter to present their solution to one of the 17 initial problems. The goal of the opponent is to find the pros and cons of the reporter's solution and to present their critique it in a short review at the end or the reporters presentation. During this critique, the opponent must suggest the topics that will be the focus of subsequent discussion between the reporting and opposing teams.

The Reviewer

The goal of the reviewer is to give a brief review of the reporter and opponent presentations. They must then discuss and highlight the main ideas that emerged as a result of this discussion while also highlighting any points that the two teams may have overlooked. Although the reviewer can ask questions to the reporter and opponent and take part in the discussion about the problems, their main role is to help the two other teams to reach a consensus and agree on what has been done and what more could be done to solve the problem.

The Observer

When more than three teams are present (usually due to the number of participating teams, that cannot be evenly distributed over three), a fourth role is used - that of the observer. The observing team simply watches the round, but cannot participate in any of the discussions.

The Jury

The jury is made up of a panel of senior academics and members of the IPT international organising committee. Their role is to provide a grade from 1 to 10 for each team and should be one which reflects each team's performance during the round. The grades are awarded based on a series of guidelines which vary for each role (Reporter, Opponent or Reviewer). However, there is a certain level of subjectivity when it comes to awarding the marks and each jury member is encouraged to use his/her discretion when applying the guidelines.

Organisation

The tournament is represented by the International Organising Committee (IOC), which comprises representatives from each of the participating countries as well as the executive committee (also shortened to ExeCom). The tournament is continuously managed by an executive committee composed of PhD and academic researchers and teachers from numerous participating countries. The committee is in charge of the likes of; problem selection, year round communication to participants, maintenance of the website and outreach, maintaining and improving the rules and executing the decisions made by the representatives of the countries part of the IPT. On the local level of the tournament, a Local Organising Committee (LOC) from the host institution and the IOC organises the tournament. The ExeCom, and by extension the IPT, is headed by a president voted by the country representatives once every two years. The other required posts include the secretary, treasurer and the vice-president. It is important to note that the ExeCom has no voting power.

National Selections and pre-selection

Should more than one institution per country an apply, the participating country should organise a national selection process. This is organised by the IOC member representing the country and ideally follows the format of the international competition using a subset of the 17 problems chosen. Often the winner of these national selections will hold the country's spot in the final tournament. Should the number of countries registering for the tournament outweigh the number of places available (currently 21), a pre-selection process will be engaged. This pre-selection - or qualification - requires teams registered to submit a report on one of a subset of the problems. The reports are graded by peer review from various academic research staff and then a rank is drawn to determine which nation's teams will qualify for the final tournament.

During the Tournament

The tournament is composed of selective fights (usually four) and a final fight. Every team competes in all the selective fights, but only the three (or four) teams with the largest number of marks after the selective fights take part in the final. Each fight involves three (or four) teams competing against each other in three (or four) rounds. During each round, these teams will act as either Reporter, Opponent or Reviewer (and Observer, if the group contains four teams). The teams then rotate around each of the roles until each team has played each role.

After the Tournament

Up to a maximum of two weeks following the previous tournament, suggestions for the next edition's problems are open to the public. Once enough suggested problems have been collected, a committee of academic researchers associated with the IPT gather and form a shortlist of problems for members of participating countries to assign up to 100 points per country to problems. The problems are then ranked by points and re-assessed by the committee, before being released to the public.

Editions

Ranking of countries by number of victories

Participants

Below is a list, along with country of origin, of the institutions who have and currently are participating in the IPT. This may be either through only the pre-selection or the final tournament. Alongside is also indicated past victories with a ★. *

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

(

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

) *

Federal University of ABC Federal University of ABC (, UFABC) is a Brazilian federal public institution of higher learning based in Santo André and São Bernardo do Campo, municipalities belonging to the ABC region, both in the state of São Paulo. UFABC is the only fe ...

(

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

) *

Federal University of Minas Gerais The Federal University of Minas Gerais (, UFMG) is a federalIn the Brazilian Higher Education context, ''Federal'' does not mean ''collegiate'' (even though most Federal Universities in Brazil enjoy a similarly collegiate system), but it means ...

(

) *

University of Campinas The University of Campinas (), commonly called Unicamp, is a public research university in the state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Brazil. Established in 1962, Unicamp was designed from scratch as an integrated Research institute, researc ...

(

) *

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

(

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

) *

Nankai University Nankai University is a public university in Tianjin, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Construction. Nankai University was establ ...

(

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

) *

Universidad Nacional de Colombia The National University of Colombia () is a national public research university in Colombia, with general campuses in Bogotá, Medellín, Manizales and Palmira, and satellite campuses in Leticia, San Andrés, Arauca, Tumaco, and La Paz, C ...

(

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

) * Universidad de los Andes (

) * Universidad Industrial de Santander (

) *

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...

(

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

) *

Technical University of Denmark The Technical University of Denmark (), often simply referred to as DTU, is a polytechnic university and school of engineering. It was founded in 1829 at the initiative of Hans Christian Ørsted as Denmark's first polytechnic, and it is today ran ...

(

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

) * Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon★ (

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

) * Ecole Normale Superieure Ulm (

) * Ecole Polytechnique★ (

) *

Goethe University Frankfurt Goethe University Frankfurt () is a public research university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealthy and active liberal citizenry of Frankfurt ...

(

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

) *

University of Erlangen–Nuremberg The Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (, FAU) is a Public University, public research university in the cities of Erlangen and Nuremberg in Bavaria, Germany. The name Friedrich-Alexander is derived from the university's first ...

(

) *

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; , ''Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece, with various campuses alo ...

(

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

) *

University of Crete The University of Crete (UoC; Greek: Πανεπιστήμιο Κρήτης) is a multi-disciplinary, research-oriented institution in Crete, Greece, located in the cities of Rethymno (official seat) and Heraklion. There are 16 main undergraduate ...

(

) *

Shiv Nadar University Shiv Nadar University (Institute of Eminence) is a private university located near Greater Noida, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It was founded in 2011 by Shiv Nadar, the founder and chairman of HCL. History The university ...

(

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

) *

National Institute of Science Education and Research The National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) is an autonomous research institute in Jatani, Odisha, India, aided by Department of Atomic Energy. The institute is affiliated by Homi Bhabha National Institute. Former P ...

(

) *

Indian Institute of Technology, Madras The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras or IIT-M) is a Public university, public technical university located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the eight public Institutes of Eminence of India. As an Indian Institutes of ...

(

) *

Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal (IISERB or IISER Bhopal) is a prestigious autonomous research institute A research institute, research centre, or research organization is an establishment founded for doing researc ...

(

)
Ariaian Young Innovative Minds Institute
(

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

) *

Politecnico di Milano The Polytechnic University of Milan (, abbreviated as PoliMi) is a university in Milan, Italy. It is the largest technical university in the country, with about 40,000 enrolled students. The university offers undergraduate, graduate, and higher ...

(

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

) *

University of Milan The University of Milan (; ), officially abbreviated as UNIMI, or colloquially referred to as La Statale ("the State niversity), is a public university, public research university in Milan, Italy. It is one of the largest universities in Eu ...

(

) *

University of Bologna The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...

(Italy) *

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

★ (

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

) *

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

(

) *

Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT; , also known as PhysTech), is a public university, public research university located in Moscow Oblast, Russia. It prepares specialists in theoretical physics, theoretical and applied physics, ...

(

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

) *

Voronezh State University Voronezh State University (, ВГУ; VSU) is one of the main universities in Central Russia, located in the city of Voronezh. The university was established in 1918 by professors evacuated from the University of Tartu in Estonia. The university ...

(

) *

University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana (, , ), abbreviated UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 38,000 enrolled students. The university has 23 faculties and three art academies with approximately 4,000 teaching and re ...

(

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

) *

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid (, UCM; ) is a public research university located in Madrid. Founded in Alcalá in 1293 (before relocating to Madrid in 1836), it is one of the oldest operating universities in the world, and one of Spain's ...

(

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

) *

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

(

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

) *

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

(

) *

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

(

) *

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

(

) *

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

(

) *

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

(

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

) *

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

(

) *

Lviv Polytechnic Lviv Polytechnic National University () is a public university in Lviv, Ukraine, founded in 1816. According to the Times Higher Education, as of 2024, it ranks first as a technical institution of higher education and second among all instit ...

(

) *

Kharkiv National University The V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (), also known as Kharkiv National University or Karazin University, is a public university in Kharkiv, Ukraine. It was founded in 1804 through the efforts of Vasily Karazin, becoming the second olde ...

★(

) *

Kyiv National University The Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (; also known as Kyiv University, Shevchenko University, or KNU) is a public university in Kyiv, Ukraine. The university is the third-oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and ...

(

) *

Chalmers University of Technology Chalmers University of Technology (, commonly referred to as Chalmers) is a private university, private research university located in Gothenburg, Sweden. Chalmers focuses on engineering and science, but more broadly it also conducts research ...

(

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

) *

KTH Royal Institute of Technology KTH Royal Institute of Technology (), abbreviated KTH, is a Public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH conducts research and education in Institute of technology, engineering and technology and is Sweden's largest te ...

(

) * Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne★ (

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

) *

ETH Zurich ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ran ...

(

) * Universidad Simon Bolivar (

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

) *

Universidad de Oviedo The University of Oviedo (, Asturian: ''Universidá d'Uviéu'') is a public university in Asturias (Spain). It is the only university in the region. It has three campus and research centres, located in Oviedo, Gijón and Mieres. History The ...

(

)

History

Original Logo

The first logo of the International Physicists' Tournament consisted of a collage representing the different fields of physics. The general outline represent electron orbits around a

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

. Six symbols placed in the orbit lobs represents (clockwise)

Atomic physics Atomic physics is the field of physics that studies atoms as an isolated system of electrons and an atomic nucleus. Atomic physics typically refers to the study of atomic structure and the interaction between atoms. It is primarily concerned wit ...

Crystallography Crystallography is the branch of science devoted to the study of molecular and crystalline structure and properties. The word ''crystallography'' is derived from the Ancient Greek word (; "clear ice, rock-crystal"), and (; "to write"). In J ...

Classical mechanics Classical mechanics is a Theoretical physics, physical theory describing the motion of objects such as projectiles, parts of Machine (mechanical), machinery, spacecraft, planets, stars, and galaxies. The development of classical mechanics inv ...

Thermodynamics Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, Work (thermodynamics), work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed b ...

Electromagnetism In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge via electromagnetic fields. The electromagnetic force is one of the four fundamental forces of nature. It is the dominant force in the interacti ...

and

Optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of optical instruments, instruments that use or Photodetector, detect it. Optics usually describes t ...

. Two

wand A wand is a thin, light-weight rod that is held with one hand, and is traditionally made of wood, but may also be made of other materials, such as metal, bone or stone. Long versions of wands are often styled in forms of staves or sceptres, whi ...

s crossing over the arm of coats symbolises the confrontation during the Physics Fights. Finally, a ribbon is laid across the logo with the letters IPT imprinted in the middle.

References

{{reflist Youth science Student quiz competitions Physics competitions Recurring events established in 2009