For five days, outstanding pupils from all over the world met in Hannover to solve challenging theoretical and experimental problems – and to choose the best young physicists in Europe. At today's ceremony, 100 participants were awarded 17 gold, 41 silver and 42 bronze medals for their excellent achievements.
The main prize for the best overall performance in both parts of the examination went to Vlad-Stefan Oros from Romania, who also achieved the best theoretical results. Luc Mezereeuw from Singapore and Andrei-Darius Dragomir from Romania achieved the best experimental results. Both were also awarded prizes. In the unofficial national ranking, Romania came out on top with three gold medals. The German team consisting of five participants also did very well and received two silver and two bronze medals.
Overall, 181 pupils from 37 countries participated in the 7th European Physics Olympiad. Most of them came from Europe, but there were also guest teams from other continents. The contest was organised by Leibniz University Hannover (LUH) in cooperation with the Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education (IPN) in Kiel.
“The last five days have been intense and exciting. It was really impressive to see the dedication, but also the fun, with which all the participants worked. Who knows, maybe there was even a future Nobel Prize winner in physics among the participants", says Professor Gunnar Friege from the Institute of Mathematics and Physics Education at LUH. He organised the contest together with Dr. Stefan Petersen from the IPN. As the host, Leibniz University Hannover also benefited from the opportunity to present itself as a potential place to study for promising talents. Numerous LUH researchers offered laboratory tours, provided insights into everyday scientific life and answered the participants' questions.
About the European Physics Olympiad (EuPhO):
The Physics Olympiad is an annual international scientific contest addressing pupils in advanced school classes, aged 20 or younger. It consists of an experimental and a theoretical test of 5 hours each. The contest is open to countries in Europe and beyond. Each country can send a team of up to five pupils and a team leader. Various qualifying rounds are held in different countries. The next Physics Olympiad will take place in Georgia in 2024.
Note to editors:
For further information, please contact Prof. Dr. Gunnar Friege, Institute of Mathematics and Physics Education at Leibniz University Hannover (Tel. +49 511 762 17223, Email friege@idmp.uni-hannover.de).
