ITMO: ITMO Holds First Stage of Its Physics Contest for School Students
The first online round of ITMO’s physics contest for school students will take place on April 14-21. There, students in grade 8-11 will get to solve problems that were inspired by contemporary research practices. Winners of the first stage will not only receive prizes, but will also get the chance to visit ITMO’s research laboratories and talk to the university’s leading scientists.
It’s the fourth time that ITMO University holds a physics contest for senior school students. This year, the defining feature of all contest tasks is their relevance to contemporary research – instead of abstract concepts, they will focus on topics like composite materials, LED, 5G, and MRI.
Online round
The contest will be held in two stages. The first online stage will have to do with solving theory-related problems. In order to participate, students will have to sign up for the contest on ITMO’s special .
After they complete the registration, students will get access to the contest’s tasks. They will be available between 12:00 am April 14 and 11:59 pm April 21. Students can start solving at any time within this timeframe, but will only have three hours to complete the tasks.
Yana Muzychenko
“We are trying to show our participants that the equations they learn in their physics classes are actually applied in real-life research. That’s why the tasks of the online round intertwine with the topics studied around the world and at ITMO. Almost every task involves an effect or phenomenon from cutting-edge science and technology,” explains Yana Muzychenko, deputy head of ITMO’s School of Physics and Technology.
The results of the first stage will be announced on April 23. School students from all around the country can try their hands at the tasks. The best participants from outside St. Petersburg will compete for the chance to travel to the final round for free. “We will give away three travel grants to the best participants of the online stage to cover their travel expenses and accommodation in St. Petersburg,” says Alexey Itin, head of the Bachelor’s Admission Office.
Offline round
The second round of the contest will take place at ITMO on May 15. “This offline round will be held in actual research labs – an aspect unique to our contest,” comments Alexey Itin.
Alexey Itin
Participants of the final round will not only visit the laboratories, but will also have to use the equipment provided by the university to run experiments and use their results as they complete the tasks. That way, the school students will experience every stage of academic work.
“Physics is an experimental science. That is why each round will include both theoretical and experimental tasks in every area of physics. For instance, for the task on electric circuits, the participants will have to first assemble their circuits, then run experiments and use their results to solve the task,” comments Yana Muzychenko.
This year, winners of the contest will receive prizes and the opportunity to include their achievement in various portfolio competitions. The organizers of the contest plan that in the future, winners of similar contests will get bonuses when applying to ITMO.