20th July 2011

IPhO 2011:

Harmony in Physics

It was a very successful year for the British team at the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO). This year the competition took place in Bangkok, Thailand, with 85 countries from across the world participating.

The British team of five were delighted to bring home a full tally of three silver and two bronze medals. Edward Godfrey (Thomas Hardye School, Dorset) was awarded a silver medal and when asked how he felt said “ I enjoyed representing Great Britain. It was a challenge and I was surprised to win a silver medal".

Edward and his team mates, Jiasheng Chen (Abbey College, Cambridge), Samuel Nicholls (Hymers College, Hull), David Ryan (Saint Simon Stock Catholic School, Maidstone) and Yutian Wu (Merchiston Castle School, Edinburgh) were selected from 1700 students from over 300 schools who participated initially in the British Physics Olympiad (BPhO) competition last November. They undertook a number of theoretical papers, practical problems and training camps in the lead up to IPhO to ensure their place on the team.

Students and team leaders dressed in formal wear and national dress for the IPhO opening ceremony attended by Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. The princess congratulated the students on their achievements and hoped that the event would encourage both cultural understanding and collaboration in physics. This was the inspiration for the IPhO 2011 slogan, “Harmony in Physics”.

This year 32 new schools to the BPhO were allocated two free entries by The Ogden Trust. David Ryan was from one such school and his teacher, Jaynarain Hurry, was also invited to the IPhO. Jaynarain felt that it was a “unique learning experience” that allowed “people from different countries and cultures to meet, who have a common passion for physics”.

The competition consisted of two five hour papers; a theoretical exam which this year explored satellite orbits, surface tension and electric dipoles, followed two days later by an experimental exam on, firstly a capacitor array found in digital callipers, and then the compound pendulum. Besides the demanding academic papers, the students also had an opportunity to socialise with other young physicists. They went on a number of excursions where they participated in traditional Thai dance, rode elephants and ate plenty of Thai food. Sam Nicholls turned 18 on the day of the experimental exam and was presented with a card signed by over 25 countries.

Teachers and university academics at the IPhO agreed that the national competitions were useful to stretch and challenge their most able students. In the UK, Jaynarain felt “Paper 2 allowed us to see just how talented and dedicated David was”. He added, “David should be proud of earning recognition as one of the top five physicists for his age in the UK”.

Registration for the BPhO 2012 will begin in September and more information can be found on the website www.bpho.org.uk.

September 2009

New - Report on the IPhO

Paul Nicholls, a teacher from Merchiston Castle School who accompanied the British team to the International Physics Olympiad this year, has written an excellent report on the team's activities.

To read it, visit the IPhO 2009 page

Monday 20th July

International Physics Olympiad Results

The United Kingdom recorded an excellent result at this year's International Physics Olympiad. Swine flu threatened to cancel the event, held in Mérida, Mexico, but excellent efforts by our hosts enabled most countries to attend.

James Taylor, Guy Emerson and Sergei Patiakin were achieved Silver Medals, awarded to students in the top 25% of participants, and Benjamin Dive and Jordan Rush both achieved Bronze Medals, awarded to those in the top 50%.

This is one of the UK team's best results for some years, and congratulations must go both to the team, their leaders Robin Hughes, Guy Bagnall and Paul Nicholls, and all other members of the BPhO team who helped prepare the students. An excellent platform to prepare for Croatia 2010.

Monday 29th June

Physics Practical Project Released

Are you looking for an interesting project to keep your GCSE or AS students occupied after exams? This year, the BPhO have released their Practical Project early so that teachers can choose to use it during the post exams period.

Click to download the Project Brief and the Entry Form. Students in both age groups complete the same experiment, but are judged against their peers

The contest is free to enter, everyone who completes a project gets a certificate and the national winners receive a datalogger for their school!

Tuesday 27th January

Paper 2 Results

The results of Paper 2 of the British Physics Olympiad were published on Tuesday 27th January. They are available here: Results 2009

Friday 16th January

Entry deadlines

Entry deadlines were omitted from the Physics Challenge (for GCSE) and AS Competition entry forms. Please note the deadlines for entering these competitions are:

Physics Challenge (GCSE, 6th March): 22nd February 2009

AS Competition (AS, 13th March): 27th February 2009

We will do our best, but cannot guarantee that papers will arrive on time if entries are received after these deadlines. Many schools also received an incorrect version of the Physics Challenge entry from. This should refer to GCSE not AS papers. We apologise for this error. An amended entry form is available: Physics Challenge Entry Form

Thursday 4th September 2008

Erratum Notice: Physics Challenge Entry Forms

Unfortunately there was a printing error in the Teachers Pack sent to schools earlier this month.The buff 2009 Physics Challenge entry form incorrectly refers to Year 12 students and AS papers. This form should refer to Year 11 students and GCSE papers. Please cross out the incorrect information and use the form as usual. Alternatively, you may download an amended version from the Samples and Support page. The pink 2009 AS Competition form should be used to enter the AS Competition.

Teachers who have not received a pack through the post can request one from BPhO@physics.ox.ac.uk

FridAy 29th July 2008

Four Medals for UK Team at Physics Olympics

An excellent result saw the UK Physics team bring four bronze medals and a honourable mention home from the International Physics Olympiad in Hanoi, Vietnam.

William Kalderon, Harry Desmond, Michael Lipton and Harry Eakins all achieved bronze medals, with Peter Townsend gaining an Honourable Mention. The students joined 400 other young physicists for a ten day trip to Vietnam during 20th - 29th July. The competition interspersed two grueling 5-hour practical and experimental papers with an exciting social and cultural programme that afforded students a flavour of their host country and time meet competitors from around the world.

The IPhO team was once again ably lead by Robin Hughes, Guy Bagnall and Anson Cheung. Observing Teachers, awarded a BPhO scholarship to attend the event, were Adam Patchett of Merchant Taylors' School and Hannah Williams of Oakham School.

For an account of the competition by Harry Eakins, see www.ogdentrust.com/news.37.htm
The picture above shows the students and their leaders at the medal presentation ceremony.

Thursday 12th June 2008

The BPhO moves to Oxford!

A new BPhO Administrative Office has been established at the University of Oxford. A generous grant from the Ogden Trust and the Institute of Physics has enabled the University to employ a full-time Olympiad Administrator, Miss Lorna Stevenson. She will take care of all administrative aspects of the competition for the next three years, and can be reached on BPhO@physics.ox.ac.uk, or 01865 282447.

Dr Cyril Isenberg, who for 25 years has been the lynchpin of the BPhO, will continue to have academic oversight for the competitions. However, all enquiries should now be directed towards Miss Stevenson in the first instance.

The photograph below shows the signing of the agreement for Oxford to host the BPhO, which took place at the 4th Ogden Trust Science Forum on 12th June 2008.

Seated from left to right: Dr. Cyril Isenberg (Secretary BPO), Sir Peter Ogden (Ogden Trust), Prof. Robert Taylor (Oxford Physics) and Mr. Philip Diamond (IOP)
Back from left to right: Mr. Bill Bryson (Author) and Mr Tim Simmons (Ogden Trust)