Gold for Germany: Physics geniuses win at the IYPT in Sweden!

Gold for Germany: Physics geniuses win at the IYPT in Sweden!

In Lund, Sweden, the German national team caused a sensation at the International Young Physicists’ Tournament (IYPT). On July 7, 2025, the team won the gold medal and finished third overall among 35 countries, behind only powerful opponents from Singapore and China, as idw-online.de reported.

During the competition week from June 29th to July 6th, the students were able to put their physical skills to the test. Five committed participants made up the team: Benjamin Graf (17) from Hochfranken-Gymnasium Naila, Benedikt Baum (17) from Hans-Thoma-Gymnasium Lörrach, Rusheel Sai Nuthalapati (16) from Berlin International School, Maxim Rasch (17) also from Hans-Thoma-Gymnasium Lörrach and Alan Stranjak (18) from Emil-von-Behring-Gymnasium Spardorf near Erlangen.

Teamwork and exciting topics

A highlight was the presentation of the topic “Spaghetti Accelerator” by Rusheel, who examined a fascinating physical phenomenon: Spaghetti breaks in a curved tube and ejects small pieces at high speed. Rusheel developed a model based on high-speed imaging that analyzed the dynamics of this idea in depth.

The IYPT is known for its special competition format in which students compete in groups of three. One group acts as a reporter, the other as an opponent and the third evaluates the arguments. Maxim Rasch often took on the critical role of the opponent, while team captain Benedikt Baum praised the team cohesion and good cooperation.

Intensive preparation and international encounters

The intensive preparation led to a high-quality performance, which was not least due to the support of physicists, as Benjamin Graf emphasized. Alan Stranjak also appreciated the international exchange with participants from all over the world, which made the experience even more valuable. The team members had previously qualified from over 250 applicants in the national GYPT competition and completed 12 of the 17 specified physics tasks.

Among the challenging tasks set by an international committee were exciting topics such as “Spaghetti Accelerator”, “Dripping Faucet” and “Levitating Fluid”, which required creative solutions and innovative approaches, as can be read on iypt.org.

Valuable support from the DPG

The team was supervised by Svea Lorenz from the German Physical Society (DPG), who provided the team with crucial support. The Wilhelm and Else Heraeus Foundation also contributed to the successful participation in the GYPT and IYPT by providing the necessary resources.

For scientific inquiries, please contact Svea Lorenz at the email address lorenz@dpg-physik.de available.

The fluctuations in competition rankings and the enthusiasm of participants suggest that such competitions not only impart knowledge but also strengthen team dynamics and international friendships.