A total of 381 high school students from 83 countries will be in Denmark from 7 to 15 July to put their knowledge of physics to the test at the International Physics Olympiad—IPhO 2013. The event, which is organized jointly by DTU and the University of Copenhagen, is being held in Denmark this year to celebrate the centenary of Niels Bohr’s revolutionary theory about the hydrogen atom.
A demanding exam in theoretical and experimental physics is what awaits 381 young people from all over the world when they arrive in Denmark on 7 July. Around 20 gifted physicists from the Technical University of Denmark, the University of Copenhagen and high schools around the country have come up with three theoretical and two experimental assignments designed to establish just how well acquainted the young people are with the laws of physics.
The pupils will be required to solve the assignments without any aids—so they will have to have their wits about them when they take the tests, which will be held on Tuesday, 9 July at the Niels Bohr Institute/Gefion High School, and on Thursday, 11 July at DTU Lyngby Campus. The tests will be translated by accompanying teachers into all the languages represented, and the pupils will naturally be allowed to submit their answers in their native language.
Between the tests there will be plenty of time for social activities where the young people can get to know each other—and Denmark—a little better. For example, they will be visiting Dyrehaven animal park, Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen City Hall, the Viking Ship Museum and Lejre Museum. And there will, of course, be a party.
Over and above the trip and the experience, two-thirds of the participants will be going home with a medal or an honourable mention.