About Olympiad

The International Scientific Physics Olympiad (hereinafter referred to as the Olympiad, ISPhO-2026) will be held in 2026 for the fourth time.

The ISPhO-2026 Olympiad will be held exclusively online. There will be no in-person locations for the Olympiad this year. 

All events will take place on the Olympiad’s website and will consist of:

•  Theoretical exam: 3 problems, one of which involves elements of computer modeling (no special programming skills required);

•  Experimental exam: working with specialized software that emulates experimental equipment, as well as working with experimental data;

The online experimental exam will be entirely devoted to computer modeling and data processing. Participants will be provided with software that simulates the operation of scientific equipment.

Task’s syllabus will correspond the syllabus used at Asian Physics Olympiad (APhO)

Locations: 

All events will take place on the Olympiad’s website. No in-person venues are planned for 2026.

Delegation composition: 

Each country may register a team of up to 5 participants and 2 team leaders. Individual participants may also register and participate, provided they confirm their status as a candidate for the national team but only if no official team has registered.

Age of participants: 

All participants must be under 20 years of age as of July 31, 2026.

The working language of the ISPhO-2026: 

The working language of the ISPhO - 2026 is English. Leaders participate remotely in the translation of problems into national languages. Delegation leaders must be experts in physics capable of solving ISPhO problems, and must also have sufficient proficiency in English to read texts and communicate. Delegations may be accompanied by observers. Observers may attend all ISPhO-2026 sessions online, including delegation leaders’ meetings, but are not entitled to vote or participate in discussions.

Appeals and awards: 

Upon completion of the ISPhO-2026 tasks, an appeal procedure based on the results of inspections is provided. Once the final results are recorded, the winners and prize-winners are awarded medals in accordance with individual results, diplomas in the category “Theory and Modeling”, as well as in special nominations: “Absolute Winner”, “Best Result” in the category “Theory and Modeling”, “Best Result” in the category “Experiment”, “Best Team Score” and “National Diamond”.

All awards and medals will be sent to winners after the event

Telegram news channel: https://t.me/ispho25