Congratulations to the U.S. traveling team who returned home from the International Physics Olympiad with five medals. The competition was held July 3-12, 2005 in Salamanca, Spain. Click here for news on the international results. Pictures from the team's visit to Spain are also available here.

The Olympiad is an international competition among pre-university students from more than 70 nations. The goals of the Olympiad are to encourage excellence in physics education and to reward outstanding physics students. Competitors are asked to solve challenging theoretical and experimental physics problems. The 24 members of the U.S. Physics_Team are selected through two competitive examinations. A press release on the U.S. Physics_Team is available here.

This year's team members attended a nine-day training camp May 14-23, 2005, where they worked with coaches on physics problems and laboratory techniques and listened to a number of physics frontier speakers. Five students were selected from the group to represent the 2005 U.S. Physics_Team at the 36th International Competition. All team expenses are paid by Sponsors and Contributors.

A Congressional Reception honoring all team members was held on May 18. Representatives Vern Ehlers (R-MI) and Rush Holt (D-NJ), the two physicists in Congress, co-hosted the event. Click here to view photos.

World Year of Physics 2005

In keeping up with the celebration of the World Year of Physics 2005, we will send each teacher and student a World Year of Physics 2005 lapel pin. Pins will be mailed with preliminary exams.

Semi-Finalist Awards Program!

Awards will be given to all semi-finalist students. We hope these awards will be distributed at school-wide award ceremonies. Each year approximately 200 students qualify to take the second and final screening exam for the U.S. Physics_Team. These bright, highly motivated semi-finalists represent the top science students in the U.S. Public acknowledgment of their hard work and mastery of the concepts sends a strong message that adds value to their achievement in the eyes of the public. Others in earlier years/grades may see that hard work and scholastic achievement will be rewarded. The community will recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of their high school. Finally, more schools, communities, and physics departments will become aware of the U.S. Physics_Team and the International Physics Olympiad.