Switzerland wins the World Physics Championship

Who can take part?

For every year since 2003 Swiss upper-secondary school students have been taking part in the International Young Physicists’ Tournament IYPT, which was initiated in the 1980s in the former Soviet Union. All Swiss upper-secondary school students can take part in the qualifying Swiss Young Phisicists' Tournament SYPT in teams of three. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, around seventy students took part every year, this year there were thirty. At the international tournaments in 2013, 2016 and 2019, respectively, the Swiss teams were in third place. In 2022, the Swiss team won the World Physics Championship for the first time.

A chance to compete with like-minded people from 25 countries

In March 2022, five Swiss upper-secondary school students qualified for the international competition in the preliminary round of the world championship, which took place at ETH Zurich. They then proceeded to compete with like-minded students in 17 external pagephysics projects announced long in advance. This not only requires a profound understanding of physics, but also teamwork, project planning, as well as the ability of leading discussions, and good presentation techniques. These supersubject skills are also valuable later on in their studies and careers .

Experience, an important key to success

The two team leaders, Ophélie Rivière and Jakob Storp, study physics in the fourth and sixth semesters, respectively, at ETH Zurich and led the Swiss team to victory at IYPT held a at the “West University of Timișoara” in Romania 15-25 July 2022. Both participated in tournaments themselves in the past and could further build on the many years of experience of the Swiss delegation. Based on their experiences, they know how essential an intensive preparation is, and also the importance of spontaneously motivating their team at the right moment.

Ophélie Rivière and Jakob Storp, how did the winning team come about?

“Upper-secondary school students from all over Switzerland have been working with us on the problems, and conducting experiments and evaluations since the autumn of 2021. The prerequisite is a thorough understanding of the problems. The students had already done a lot of work for the national tournament. The people chosen for the international tournament should also be able to function well in a team, react quickly and thoughtfully, solve tasks together and help one another. A powerful team needs people with different strengths who complement each other well.”

What did you emphasise when coaching?

“Presentation and visualisation techniques are central to the tournament. It's about conveying quite complex projects to the opposing teams in a comprehensible and convincing way in just twelve minutes. We worked a lot on the presentations – at the end in Romania even overnight. The opposing teams then scrutinise the presentations. So, they listen very carefully and subsequently examine in a positive and discerning manner whether the arguments presented are sound and solid. The interrogating team itself is also evaluated and has to be able to understand the presenters' method exactly: what assumptions were made, what difficulties the presenting team struggled with, and also whether there were any oversimplifications. So, strategically we also put a lot of emphasis on interrogating when coaching. The team should not solely focus on their own project.”

Based on their Physics curriculum, are secondary school students ready for the tournament?

“In principle, yes. However, while project-oriented forms of teaching are becoming more common, there is often little time for such in-depth discussions in regular classes. But during the long preparation periods, students also grow into their roles and get to know their strengths and weaknesses better. We try to recognise and promote these. The important thing is: we work together to create a climate of mutual trust – a basis for accepting one's own weaknesses and conducting discussions from a productive perspective. If criticism is delivered too aggressively, there will be deductions. You can always learn something in this area. Also, a ready solution cannot simply be presented as such at the tournament; the way to the result must be explained and understood too. On the academic side, there are areas such as fluid dynamics that, in our experience, are not taught sufficiently in secondary schools. We wanted to strengthen the Swiss team in that as well.”

Task on Fluid Dynamics: “Droplet Explosion”

At the international tournament, the finalists were allowed to choose their own projects, in contrast to the preliminary rounds. The Swiss team presented the project “Droplet Explosion”. In this phenomenon, a drop of a water solution on the surface of an oily liquid disintegrates smaller droplets. The Swiss team responded to the critical questions of the opposing team in a lively discussion. And most importantly, it was also strong in constructively challenging the projects of the opposing teams. In the end the strategic considerations of the team leaders turned out to be correct and the extensive training had paid off. After an exciting final round with many emotional ups and downs, the Swiss team won – ahead of Singapore and Poland.

Together with the students, you spent a lot of your free time on the tournament. What excites you most about physics personally?

Ophélie Rivière: “Many things can be derived mathematically - I am excited to find out whether and in what form these findings actually exist in the world. Physics gives me the tools I need to pursue this curiosity. Jakob Storp: “I am fascinated by how the most complex phenomena and questions can be traced back to universal, sometimes even simple, basic principles and thus understood in a new way. It is satisfying to understand complex things yourself, and then being able to communicate them in a well-structured and comprehensible way.”