Course of the tournament

The IYPT is a team-oriented competition. That means that in contrast to a lot of other competitions students do not compete alone and on their own but as a team. The participating teams have almost a year to prepare so-called “Reports” on 17 tasks, called “problems”. During the tournament teams present their reports and discuss and defend their solution against an opposing team. Presentation and discussion are then graded by a jury consisting of national and international experts. The whole competition is executed in English, since the IYPT is an international competition.

The precise course of the tournament might look a bit complicated at first glimpse. The following step-by-step introduction is intended to help you understanding the structure of the IYPT.

The Preparation

One of the most important aspects, if not the most important aspect of the tournament is the preparation phase. The problems of the IYPT are not tasks which can be solved within a short time with known methods, like in an exam. They are deliberately formulated in a more open way. They can be viewed from different angles and there are many ways to handle them. The task of the participants (together with their teamleader) during the preparation phase is to get as much knowledge about the problems as possible. There are no restrictions on how to do so. This kind of problems is intended to put the students in the same situation as a regular researcher is in. The solution to the problems and even the way how to get the solution is completely unknown.
The problems for the IYPT are published nearly a year before the tournament. That gives all participants enough time to do experiments, research literature and the internet, maybe talk to some experts, etc. Teamwork and organising ability certainly play an important role.
The preparation aims at two main goals: On the one hand it is important to gather as much background knowledge on the problems as possible. That is necessary to confidently defend a solution in a discussion against an opposing team or to try to find weaknesses in the presentation of another team. The other main goal is to prepare a well-structured Report of all the knowledge acquired.

The Tournament

The tournament itself consists of several rounds which are called “Physics Fights. The first five rounds are called the “Selective Fights”. They can be compared to the group phase of soccer competitions. All teams participate in five Selective Fights. The three teams with the highest total sum of points after the Selective Fights reach the Final Fight, which eventually determines the winning team.

The Selective Fights

At the beginning of the tournament the teams draw lots to form groups of three teams each. If the total number of teams is not divisible by three then one or two groups with four teams are formed.
Each of these groups then executes the first Selective Fight (in parallel). After that the teams change groups according to a scheme determined by the drawing of lots. This is necessary because otherwise there would be always the same teams competing in the same group. This procedure is repeated until all Selective Fights have been held.

The Structure of a Fight

A Fight. This is due to the fact that during one Stage each team has a specific role to play. These roles are exchanged after each Stages each team has played each role exactly once.
The roles are:
Reporter
Opponent
Reviewer
only in groups with four teams: Observer
The specific meaning of these roles will be explained together with the course of a Stage.

The Course of a Stage

A so-called “Fight, comparable e.g. to one single run of a skiing race. A Fight it is custom to have 5-15 minutes break, depending on how much time is available.
At the beginning of a Stage teams und jurors are introduced and the chairman of the jury reads out which team will play which role in this Stage.
After this informal part, the actual Stage begins. Its course is precisely regulated by the tournament regulations. Each of the phases which will be described here has a maximum duration. This maximum duration may not be exceeded. Usually, there is a special monitor available which displays a graphical representation of how much time is left in the current phase.
The explanations given in the next few paragraphs shall only illustrate the structure and course of the events in a Stage. For a more detailed overview of the Stage regulations please confer the official tournament regulations.
After the mentioned introduction, the Opponent-Team must challenge the Reporter-Team for one of the 17 tasks. Reporter-Team can accept or reject the challenge. If a team rejects a challenge too often during the whole tournament this team will lose some points.
If a problem has been selected the Reporter-Team has five minutes for preparation which are usually used to prepare notes, have a final look on the presentation or sometimes to prepare a live experiment for demonstration.
After the preparation time, the Reporter has a maximum of twelve minutes to present the Report. There are no formal requirements in which way exactly this has to be done.
After the presentation of the Report, the Opponent also gets a few minutes preparation time before taking the stage to present an estimation on the presentation done by the Reporter, stressing its pros and cons.
This speech by the Reporter tries to defend the solution and the Opponent tries to criticise it.
Afterwards the third team, the Reviewer-Team can ask questions to both other teams and then (after a short preparation) present an overview of the performance of the Opponent.
In the end the Reporter may present some final concluding remarks.
And finally the jurors may ask some short questions to all three teams. After that the perfomances of the teams in the current Stage.
Observer-Team does not take part actively in the course of the Observer role is to allow groups of four teams to be executed, if the total number of teams is not divisible by three.
After a short break another Stage with the same structure but exchanged roles of Teams begins. The teams exchange their roles until each team has been the Reporter exactly once.
There are some additional details worth mentioning:
All communication between the teams and the jury is done in English.
The team members may not communicate with outsiders (e.g. the teamleader) in the course of a Fight.
Apart from that all kinds of aids (literature, laptops, dictionaries, notes,…) are allowed.
Only one team member is active as Stage. That means that in general only this person represents the team during the Stage and talks for the team. Other team members are only allowed to make brief remarks or to assist with the presentation technically.
During one Fight no team member may be the active representative of the team more than twice. In other words: It is forbidden that the same person acts as Reporter, Opponent, and Reviewer in the same Fight.

How to join

If you are a student or a teacher in one of the countries listed here, you are lucky:there is someone in your country who organizes a local competition that selects a national team. Join, do well and become part of the national team for the IYPT!

If your country is not on that list, that means that the IYPT has no active member organization (IMO) in your country. Some countries have participated in the past but later withdrew, and some countries have never participated in the IYPT.

To participate with a team from such a country, you will need to fulfill several important conditions:

• organize a team of 5 students;
• find someone experienced with the IYPT who will come together with your team to the IYPT as an “endorser” and act as a team leader.
• Set up or find an organization that will apply to become the IYPT Member Organization (IMO), responsible for the selection of the countries national team.

Our rule says that a new team is brought by someone who has already been at the IYPT (as a juror, team leader, team member or observer). This endorser will be coaching the team together with a second team leader, and must guarantee to us that the team is reasonably well prepared. We expect that the endorser organizes a fair national selection and applies to become the IYPT Member Organization (IMO) as early as possible. The endorser should contact the IYPT organizers no later than in December prior to the IYPT, check the conditions and deadlines for pre-registration, and then pre-register the team before a deadline. Note that the deadline is many months prior to the competition, and more likely than not will be in January.

Usually, a country first sends an observer for an IYPT event and only the next year the observer comes with a team and introduces the IYPT in their country. The other option is to cooperate with someone experienced with IYPT from a different country (e.g. a former participant or leader who now studies or works abroad).

Our regulations state that “All members of the team must either be citizens of the country they represent, or be enrolled as students in a school of the country they represent”. Therefore if a student is enrolled in a school in country A and a citizen of country B, he or she has the option to participate as a member of either nation. There is no limit for citizenship or enrollment of team leaders.

Please understand that assembling a team, finding an endorser, preparing for the IYPT and solving the problems, and then securing the travel budget will be many months of hard work. We will be happy to provide advice in this respect and will be happy to see a new team. If you would like to have assistance or advice in your plan to form a new IYPT team, please contact us.

History

The concept behind the IYPT originates from the former Soviet Union. After a tournament of that kind was executed there for quite a while the first international IYPT took place in 1988. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the IYPT was carried out in other European countries as well, whereas the number of participating countries grew continuosely.

In 2004, the IYPT took place outside of Europe for the first time. Venue was Brisbane (Australia).

Meanwhile, the number of participating countries has grown to over 25. There are also representatives from every continent in the meantime.

In addition the IYPT has developed from a lose community of idealists into an officially registered corporation. In many countries, there are national organizations, corporations and associations now which organize qualification competitions and represent their respective countries in the committees of the IYPT. Some of these associations have also been officially and formally recognized by the IYPT in the meantime.

Venues

The IYPT is held in another country every year. The IOC decides which of the applying countries may inherit the holding. The organisation itself is then accomplished by the Local Organizing Committee (LOC).
MAP – where have been tournaments hosted iypt.org/About/History

For sponsors

We relate our abilities to our sponsors’ needs, in a way that benefits both.

What benefits you could get when associating your brand with the premier global network and with other brands that successfully partner with us?

Those who support and attend the IYPT range from Nobel Prize winners and Ministers for science and education to some best-known leaders of industry, like Audi, Samsung, Daimler, or Nokia.

The IYPT is an effective marketing platform, reaching a broad international community from dozens of thousands of keen followers to some of the World’s most important decision makers.

They all see the IYPT as a focus of excellence that brings together bright minds, creativity, ideas, and fascination with science. IYPT participants themselves go on to become leaders in science and industry.

Supporting such a special group of young people is much more than sponsoring a media event.

It is an investment that brings unique returns; public visibility, recruiting young leaders, promoting knowledge and excellence, and staying at the heart of a truly global science event.

It is easy for you to target specific goals by sponsoring specific events and programmes. Our sponsors can donate towards a specific project, towards a chosen future competition, or towards the worldwide organization of the IYPT. We are willing to meet your specific needs in our media and on-site exposure.

The IYPT is ideally suited for a sponsorship portfolio that focuses on supporting talented youth, education, science, and technology. Our existing partners are proud to speak about the IYPT in their annual reports, newsletters, or bulletins for customers.

We make an impact and a difference. We are about enthusing and recruiting young talent with pre-university research and eye-catching performances.

We would love to talk to you about how we can assist with your sponsorship activities and what our options would deliver the rewards you seek from such a partnership.

Video

Feel the spirit of the IYPT in the documentary taken at the IYPT 2012 in Germany and in the teaser clip for the IYPT 2016 in Russia.