The First All-India Physics Olympiad

The TISB Physics Club is organising the first online Physics Olympiad in India. The preliminary dates for the event are the 27-28 March 2021. Not only is this the first online Physics Olympiad in India, it is also the first Olympiad, on the national stage, being organised by a school, rather than a non-governmental organisation. The Physics Olympiad will be open for students across the country in Grades 9 to 12, and is free to enter. We got in touch with Grade 11 student Yash, who is the leader of the TISB Physics Club, to find out more about the All-India Physics Olympiad.

This event is not only important because it provides a unique opportunity, but also because it marks the beginning of a cultural shift – Yash, Grade 11

This year TISB’s Physics Club is making history with their All-India Physics Olympiad. The event will be the first of its kind; a nation-wide event that is being organised by a group of high school students. “The actual event is a Physics centric competition which will test our participants’ knowledge over the nuances of advanced physics concepts, from Thermodynamics to Special Relativity”, explains Yash, who founded the TSIB Physics Club in his first year in TISB. The idea behind the TISB Physics Club, as well as the upcoming Olympiad, is to create a space to encourage and give opportunities to aspiring scientists. The Olympiad gives participants the chance to gain a completely different scientific insight to what they are used to in the classroom. “As someone who did not have the opportunity to participate in these kinds of events, I am quite excited and optimistic regarding the opportunities that my fellow TISB students will have in the future”, says Yash, who wants the event to become a tradition that will carry on over the years.

Importantly, the students organising the event will set a precedent in terms of its inclusiveness, as the event seeks to invite a diverse set of schools nationwide, and is open to students across the country. “What makes this event incommensurable, in my opinion, is the fact that we are breaking custom by not solely inviting the top schools in India. Every student in this country, regardless of socio-economic status, will not be denied the ability to participate in this competition”, explains Yash. Therefore, the event does not charge any entry fee, because this would limit some students from participating. “I personally feel that nobody who is intellectually capable should be excluded from participating because of external factors, such as their financial situation”, Yash says, who is also the brainchild of the LIGO – a scientific outreach program, in collaboration with Caltech and MIT.

The fact that we are in the midst of a global pandemic has not hindered or deterred Yash and the other members of the Physics Club. The situation “does nothing but add to the rarity and uniqueness of this Physics Olympiad, where participants have the opportunity to test their classroom knowledge pragmatically”, explains Yash, and applauds the efforts of the Physic Club’s members for their resilience, hard work and ingenuity whilst organising this large event online. Convinced that winning a competition of this scale will be incredibly important and motivating for any high school student in this country, Yash and his team invites everyone who is naturally inclined towards Physics and well-versed with problem solving in the field to participate.

The whole Olympiad event will take place virtually, “which is what makes it possible for us to organise a competition on this extremely large scale”, says Yash, and explains that the competition will be using several platforms throughout the course of the event, including Microsoft Teams for the final round.

The Olympiad is structured into two rounds: The first round, also known as The Screening Round, will involve participants taking a timed and moderated Physics test, consisting of thirty multiple choice questions from a range of difficulties. The top twenty scorers from the first round will move on to the finals. The finalists will be grouped together in teams, based on the school they attend and their geography. The finalist teams will compete against each other in real-time to solve complex Physics theorems with very limited time. The team that scores the highest in this round will be declared the winners, and will receive an award and the national acclaim.

For more information and to sign up for the All-India Physics Olympiad, visit the TISB Physics Club’s website. For updates and to follow the preparations and the outcomes of the event, visit the Physics Olympiad’s Instagram account.