The International Physicists’ Tournament (IPT) is the most important physics competition in the world that has been organized annually since 2009 and for the first time in history its venue will leave Europe to be held at the Universidad Industrial de Santander.

There will be 15 teams with young physics students from universities in Brazil, Denmark, Germany, Romania, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Croatia, Poland, Sweden, Italy, Slovenia, Netherlands, France and Ukraine, who will meet at the UIS in search of the title, an achievement held by Russia, winner in 2020 and 2021.

The Colombian team is made up of Ángela Sofía Barajas, Gabriela Sánchez, Juan Diego Figueroa, Juan Andrés Guarín, José David Garavito and Brayan Rodolfo Barajas, who are studying this program at the university. They qualified in March of this year for the IPT after beating other institutions in the country in the national eliminatory.

“It is very exciting to participate in the IPT, it is an opportunity for us to let people from abroad know about the potential we have at UIS. I am anxious to know how the competition will be and also the preparation with my classmates has given us a gain to work as a team and learn to express and handle English better, “said Sanchez, a young man who is currently in his fifth semester of Physics.

The competition brings together three teams, each with six members, in which the solution to a problem associated with some physical phenomenon is presented in English and a discussion is held in which the groups seek to discuss and improve the solution given. Each team discusses its theoretical-experimental physical solutions to the 17 problems.

During the duel, each set plays each the roles of: reporter, opponent and moderator in three rounds. The winner will be the one that achieves the highest cumulative total score.

“The institutional support has been absolute, I am grateful at all levels, from Rectory, Welfare, Admissions, in everything there is euphoria for the representation we have in this event. It fills me with joy and pride because it is an opportunity to present the face of the UIS to more than 150 international guests,” added Luis Alberto Núñez, professor of the School of Physics.

The first phases will be held on May 9 and 10. On May 11 there will be a rest day to resume on Thursday 12 with the semifinal and on May 13 the final will take place.

This 2022 will mark the return to the IPT in person, since in 2020 and 2021 it was done virtually due to the pandemic. It will also be the third time that Colombia will be represented by UIS students after what happened in Switzerland 2019 and two years ago.

For more information visit the official website of the IPT: https://iptnet.info/ or enter social networks.