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IPhO 2013 : Results

The 44th International Physics Olympiad took place in Copenhagen, Danemark, a country which provided to the scientific world many great physicists such as Hans Christan Ørsted, Tycho Brahe, Ole Rømer or Niels Bohr.

As usual, the competition was divided into two parts : five hours of theory, as well as five hours for the experiments. The three theoretical tasks involved many different fields of physics, often with a link to Danemark; the students had for instance to study some properties of a meteorite, and were asked to use their knowledge in order to understand how a plasmonic steam generator work, as well as the evolution of the Greenland ice sheet.

The experimental task was split into two experiments. The first one dealt with the velocity of light in different media (water, optic fiber), whereas the second one let them study the properties of solar cells under various conditions.


The following five candidates represented Switzerland (left to right):

  • Sven Pfeiffer, from Münsingen (Freies Gymnasium Bern, BE)
  • Alain Rossier, from Le Châble (Lycée-Collège de l'Abbaye, VS)
  • William Borgeaud, from Grandvaux (Gymnase de la Cité, VD)
  • Quentin Wenger, from Tramelan (Seeland Gymnasium Biel, BE)
  • Rafael Winkler, from Mettauertal (Alte Kantonsschule Aarau, AG)

Alain Rossier and William Borgeaud were both awarded with a bronze medal, Sven Pfeiffer, Rafael Winkler and Quentin Wenger each won an honourable mention. Great results for Switzerland !

Congratulations to the team for the extraordinary performance!


Results SwissPhO 2013

Aarau - The final round of the Swiss Physics Olympiad took place on March 23/24 in Aarau at Neue Kantonsschule. The competition was held between twenty-four students from Switzerland and two from Liechtenstein.

The selection process began in January with a prelimary round, at which a record number of over 100 students participated. The students had the chance to prepare for the final round at a three day training session at EPFL. The final round consisted of two challenging days, totalling no less than six and a half hours of theoretical and experimental exams. The top five participants will have the unique opportunity to travel to Denmark to represent Switzerland at the International Physics Olympiad in July.

The final rankings of the SwissPho 2013 are shown below.

Rank Name Region Marks (out of 120) Distinction Special Prize
1 Pfeiffer Sven d 64.85 Gold SPS-Award 1)
2 Winkler Rafael d 60.45 Gold SPS-Award 2)
3 Wenger Quentin f 57.45 Gold
4 Rossier Alain f 57.35 Gold
5 Borgeaud William f 57.3 Gold
6 Stas Pieter f 55.65 Silver
7 Maret Arnaud f 55.05 Silver
8 Keller Fabian d 53.85 Silver
9 Schroeder Florian d 53.65 Silver
10 Kehl Viviane d 53.15 Silver SPS-Award 3)
11 Komagata Kenichi f 52.25 Bronze
12 Stengele Sebastian d 51.1 Bronze
13 Roos Barbara d 50.8 Bronze
14 Burgener Cyrill d 46.9 Bronze
15 Haag Jürg d 43.95 Bronze
16 Quan Guanzhong d 43.7
17 Huguenin-Dumittan Kevin d 43.65
18 Blöchlinger Pascal d 41.15
19 Suter-Dörig Benjamin Andris d 40.7
20 Guyer Gian d 40.45
21 Walter Moritz d 39.7
22 Weber Stefan d 36.85
23 Leyvraz Frederik d 34.5
24 Novotny Timothy d 25.95
Non-competitive (Liechtenstein):
Lang Lukas FL 67.75 SPS-Award 4)
Hälg David FL 36.85

1) Best Swiss Participant (Swiss Physical Society Prize)
2) Runner-up Swiss Participant (Swiss Physical Society Prize)
3) Best female participant (Swiss Physical Society Prize)
4) Heighest score (Swiss Physical Society Prize)

More detailed scores are available here.

Press release by the ASSO: French, German

Photos of the closing ceremony can be found on the website of the ASSO.



The five gold medallists together with the winner from Liechtenstein (left to right): Rafael Winkler, William Borgeaud, Quentin Wenger, Alain Rossier, Sven Pfeiffer and Lukas Lang


SSP Awards
The recepients of the SPS awards: Sven Pfeiffer, Rafael Winkler, Viviane Kehl and Lukas Lang


Dominik GreschLevy Jäger
Dominik Gresch demonstrating an experiment and Levy Jäger during his musical performance.



Dr Gabriel PalaciosDr Antoine Pochelon
Gabriel Palacios, President of the SwissPhO, and Antoine Pochelon, Secretary of the Swiss Physical Society

Photos taken during the exams

Theoretical Exam1
Theoretical Exam1
Experimental Exam1
Experimental Exam2

© Images : ASSO, Markus Meier

Preliminary Round 2013 – Results

The preliminary round of the SwissPho 2013 took place on Wednesday, 16 January 2013. A record number of 103 students from all across Switzerland and Liechtenstein took part in the competition, which was held simultaneously in three different places: Zurich, Lausanne and Lugano.

Congratulations to the following 26 Swiss participants and the two students from Liechtenstein who qualified for the SwissPho 2013. (The ranking has no significance for the SwissPho.)

Switzerland

  1. Komagata Kenichi
  2. Borgeaud William
  3. Rossier Alain
  4. Kehl Viviane
  5. Winkler Rafael
  6. Wenger Quentin
  7. Burgener Cyrill
  8. Keller Fabian
  9. Pfeiffer Sven
  10. Leyvraz Frederik
  11. Huguenin-Dumittan Kevin
  12. Suter-Dörig Benjamin Andris
  13. Stas Pieter
  14. Schroeder Florian
  15. Maret Arnaud
  16. Kreis Carla
  17. Roos Barbara
  18. Stengele Sebastian
  19. Weber Stefan
  20. Blöchlinger Pascal
  21. Haag Jürg
  22. Quan Guanzhong
  23. Novotny Timothy
  24. Guyer Gian
  25. Schertenleib Eric
  26. Walter Moritz

Liechtenstein

  1. Lang Lukas
  2. Hälg David

Best of luck to all the successful participants at the SwissPho 2013, which will be take place on 23/24 March at Neue Kantonsschule Aarau. The top five participants will then get the chance to represent Switzerland in July at the International Physics Olympiad in Copenhagen, Denmark.

We thank everyone who was not lucky enough to make it into the second round for participating. We hope that many of you will try again next year.

The complete ranking including the scores is available here.

Zurich (ETH)


Lausanne (EPFL)

© Images: Thomas Uehlinger, Thanh Phong Lê

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