The International Physics Olympiad, IPhO, is a physics competition for secondary school students aimed at promoting physics and developing international contacts for physics education. Countries participate in the olympiad with teams of a maximum of 5 students and 2 teachers. Students compete individually, undertaking two tests, one theoretical and one experimental, each with a duration of 5 hours. The tests consist of various problems and experimentaltasks related to topics from the demanding o cial olympicprogramme, putting the students’ knowledge and creativity to the test.
The 1st edition of IPhO took place in Warsaw, Poland, in 1967, with 5 countries and 15 students participating in it. In the 1980s IPhO expanded to other European countries and, since then, has grown continuously, becoming a global competition involving over 90 countries and 400 students from 5 continents. There are now other international Physics competitions, which are regional in scope, such as the Ibero-American Physics Olympiad (OIbF) and the Asian Physics Olympiad (APhO).
Inspired by this movement, the Portuguese Physical Society (SPF) has, since 1985, promoted the Portuguese Physics Olympiads, which encompass various stages: school, regional and national. For each stage, there are two categories: A, for school students up to year 9 and B, for school students up to year 11. The 20 highest scoring B category students in the nationals are preselected to represent Portugal in international competitions. After taking part in a training course in year 12 at the University of Coimbra’s Quark! School, 5 of these students are selected for representing Portugal in the IPhO and 4 in the OIbF. The Portuguese Physics Olympiads are supported by the Ministry of Education and participation in international competitions is supported by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, through the Ciência Viva Agency.Portugal participated in IPhO for the rst time as an observer in 1993and have participated with their own team since 1994. According to the competition rules, member countries should put themselves forward to organise the event some years after they rst participate.The Portuguese government made a bid in 2000 to organise an edition of the olympiad and was awarded the responsibility oforganising IPhO 2018. In July 2016 this commitment was con rmedin writing by the Minister for Education and the Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education.
The 49th IPhO will take place in Lisbon from the 21st to the 29th of July 2018. The event is being organised by the SPF, under the mandate of the Ministry of Education, with the support of the Directorate-General for Education, and a group of public and private partners, in particular the Universities of Lisbon and Coimbra, the Ciência Viva Agency and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. The CTT welcomed the SPF’s suggestion to celebrate this international event with a commemorative stamp edition.
The IPhO in Lisbon will have a record number of participating countries (94) and will, without a doubt, be a unique opportunity to celebrate physics with its most enthusiastic and promising practitioners, our young talents.
José António Paixão
SPF Vice-President Chairman of IPhO’2018
