International Young Physicists' Tournament
Encyclopedia
The International Young Physicists' Tournament (IYPT) is a competition among teams of secondary school students in their ability to solve complicated scientific problems, to present solutions to these problems and to defend them in scientific discussions called "Physics Fights".

The precise course of the tournament might look a bit complicated at first glimpse. The following step-by-step introduction is intended to help understanding the structure of the IYPT.

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 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
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

 the Austrian Young Physicists' Tournament
Austrian Young Physicists' Tournament
The Austrian Young Physicists' Tournament is an Austrian competition among teams of secondary school students in their ability to solve complicated scientific problems, to present solutions to these problems and to defend them in scientific discussions called "Physics Fights".It is executed in...

 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 Results, Reports,
Press
1988 1st Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

 Soviet Union ? 3 Disputable Disputable http://archive.iypt.org/problems/#1988 None http://archive.iypt.org/collection/#1988
1989 2nd Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

 Soviet Union 8 7  West Germany,
  Bulgaria
  RSFSR-School 710, Moscow http://archive.iypt.org/problems/#1989 None http://archive.iypt.org/collection/#1989
1990 3rd Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

 Soviet Union 6 5 *   RSFSR-School 542, Moscow Latvian SSR
Latvian SSR
The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Latvian SSR for short, was one of the republics that made up the Soviet Union. Established on 21 July 1940 as a puppet state during World War II in the territory of the previously independent Republic of Latvia after it had been occupied by...

-Riga,
 Netherlands
http://archive.iypt.org/problems/#1990 None http://archive.iypt.org/problems/#1990
1991 4th Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

 Soviet Union 7 6 *  Hungary   Soviet Combined team http://archive.iypt.org/problems/#1991 None http://archive.iypt.org/collection/#1991
1992 5th Protvino
Protvino
Protvino is a town in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located about south of Moscow and west of Serpukhov, on the left bank of the Protva River. Population: -History:...

 Russia 12 10  Belarus,
 Czechoslovakia
 Netherlands,
 Russia
http://archive.iypt.org/problems/#1992 None http://archive.iypt.org/collection/#1992
1993 6th Protvino
Protvino
Protvino is a town in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located about south of Moscow and west of Serpukhov, on the left bank of the Protva River. Population: -History:...

 Russia 18 11  Georgia (country)  Ukraine,
 Hungary
http://archive.iypt.org/problems/#1993 None http://archive.iypt.org/collection/#1993
1994 7th Groningen  Netherlands 12 11  Czech Republic,
 Russia
 Georgia (country) pdf None http://archive.iypt.org/collection/#1994
1995 8th Spała  Poland 15 12  Germany  Czech Republic,
 Hungary
pdf None http://archive.iypt.org/collection/#1995
1996 9th Tskhaltubo
Tskhaltubo
Tsqaltubo is a spa resort in west-central Georgia. It is located at around . It is the main town of the Tsqaltubo district of the Imereti province...

 Georgia (country) 13 10  Czech Republic  Germany,
 Georgia (country)-2
scroll to see None http://archive.iypt.org/collection/#1996
1997 10th Cheb
Cheb
Cheb is a city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic, with about 33,000 inhabitants. It is situated on the river Ohře , at the foot of one of the spurs of the Smrčiny and near the border with Germany...

 Czech Republic 15 11  Hungary,
 Czech Republic
 Belarus pdf http://www.ms.mff.cuni.cz/~mpro6497/iypt.html http://archive.iypt.org/collection/#1997
1998 11th Donaueschingen
Donaueschingen
Donaueschingen is a German town in the Black Forest in the southwest of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg in the Schwarzwald-Baar Kreis. It stands near the confluence of the two sources of the river Danube ....

 Germany 18 16  Czech Republic  Germany-1,
 Poland
http://docs.sfz-bw.de/iypt/iypt98Problems.html http://docs.sfz-bw.de/iypt/iypt98.html http://archive.iypt.org/collection/#1998
1999 12th Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 Austria 19 17  Germany  Georgia (country),
 Austria-1
http://www.univie.ac.at/IYPT99/iyptprob.htm http://www.univie.ac.at/IYPT99/iypt-99.htm http://archive.iypt.org/collection/#1999
2000 13th Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...

 Hungary 17 16  Poland-2  Germany,
 Russia
http://metal.elte.hu/~iypt2000/Problems.html http://metal.elte.hu/~iypt2000/ http://archive.iypt.org/collection/#2000
2001 14th Espoo
Espoo
Espoo is the second largest city and municipality in Finland. The population of the city of Espoo is . It is part of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area along with the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, and Kauniainen. Espoo shares its eastern border with Helsinki and Vantaa, while enclosing Kauniainen....

 Finland 18 16  Slovakia  Australia,
 Germany
http://iypt2001.ilyam.org/problems.html http://www.tapiolanlukio.fi/iypt2001/ http://iypt2001.ilyam.org http://archive.iypt.org/collection/#2001
2002 15th Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...

 Ukraine 20 18  Poland  Belarus,
 Germany
http://iypt2002.ilyam.org/probl.html http://www.iypt.org.ua/ http://iypt2002.ilyam.org http://archive.iypt.org/collection/#2002
2003 16th Uppsala
Uppsala
- Economy :Today Uppsala is well established in medical research and recognized for its leading position in biotechnology.*Abbott Medical Optics *GE Healthcare*Pfizer *Phadia, an offshoot of Pharmacia*Fresenius*Q-Med...

 Sweden 23 22  Germany  South Korea,
 Poland
pdf http://www.fyrisskolan.uppsala.se/iypt/ http://archive.iypt.org/collection/#2003
2004 17th Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

 Australia 26 24  Poland  Germany,
 Slovakia
http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/youngphysicists/website/website/international/problems.htm http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/youngphysicists/website/website/international/index.htm http://archive.iypt.org/collection/#2004
2005 18th Winterthur
Winterthur
Winterthur is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. It has the country's sixth largest population with an estimate of more than 100,000 people. In the local dialect and by its inhabitants, it is usually abbreviated to Winti...

 Switzerland 25 23  Germany  Belarus,
 United States
pdf http://www.iypt.ch/,
link unreachable
http://archive.iypt.org/collection/#2005
2006 19th Bratislava
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...

 Slovakia 26 24  Independent State of Croatia  South Korea,
 Germany
http://www.iypt.sk/iypt.php?category=Tournament&item=Problems http://www.iypt.sk/ http://archive.iypt.org/collection/#2006
2007 20th Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...

 South Korea 22 21  Australia  South Korea-2,
 New Zealand
pdf http://www.iypt.or.kr/ http://archive.iypt.org/collection/#2007
2008 21st Trogir
Trogir
Trogir is a historic town and harbour on the Adriatic coast in Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia, with a population of 12,995 and a total municipality population of 13,322 . The historic city of Trogir is situated on a small island between the Croatian mainland and the island of Čiovo...

 Independent State of Croatia 21 21  Germany  Independent State of Croatia,
 New Zealand
http://www.hfd.hr/iypt2008/problems.html http://www.hfd.hr/iypt2008/ http://archive.iypt.org/collection/#2008
2009 22nd Tianjin
Tianjin
' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...

 Mainland China 27 27  South Korea  Austria,
 New Zealand
pdf http://202.113.227.136/iypt/ http://archive.iypt.org/collection/#2009
2010 23rd Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 Austria 23 23  Singapore,
 Austria,
 New Zealand,
 South Korea
 Germany,
 Chinese Taipei,
 Iran,
 Australia,
 Slovakia
http://www.iypt.at/en/iypt2010/problems/ http://www.iypt.at/ http://archive.iypt.org/collection/#2010
2011 24th Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...

 Iran 21 21  South Korea,
 Austria,
 Germany
 Chinese Taipei,
 Iran,
 Slovakia,
 Singapore,
 Belarus
http://iypt.ayimi.org/index.php?option=com_navesite&view=category&SecId=4&CatId=10 http://iypt.ir/ http://archive.iypt.org/collection/#2011
2012 25th Bad Saulgau
Bad Saulgau
Bad Saulgau is a town in the district of Sigmaringen, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 23 km east of Sigmaringen, and 27 km north of Ravensburg between the Danube and Lake Constance....

 Germany http://iypt.org/images/0/05/Problems2012.pdf http://iypt.de/ http://archive.iypt.org/collection/#2012
2012 26th Taipei
Taipei
Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...

 Chinese Taipei


(*) 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 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
 Armenia 0 0 0 0 1 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
 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
  Belarus 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 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
  Kingdom of 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
 Mainland China 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 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
 Independent State of Croatia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Obs 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 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
 Czech Republic 1 1 1 1 H, 2 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
 Early Modern 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
  Georgia (country) 1 1 1 1 H, 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 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
 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
 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
 Iran 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1
 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
 Moldova 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 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
 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
 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
 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
 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
 Russia H, 3 H, 6 2 2 2 3 2 2 1 2 1 1 2 2 1 0 0 1 1 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
 Slovakia 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 H, 2 1 1 1 1 1
 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
 Soviet Union H, ? 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
 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
 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
 Ukraine 1 2 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 H, 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1
 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
 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
 Uzbekistan 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Source

External links

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