When rice is cooked without stirring, an interesting pattern of holes appears on the surface, in which no grains of rice are found. How can this be explained physically? And how can data transmission with a telephone made of cans and string be characterized in physical terms? Could such a device even be used for a group conversation involving several people?
These and many other questions will be discussed next week at the International Physicists’ Tournament (IPT) in Oklahoma, where young physicists from all over the world will meet to put their skills to the test. The Austrian team consists of students from TU Wien and is coached by Alberto Rolandi from the Institute of Atomic and Subatomic Physics, together with Daniel Grumiller, Mario Brameshuber, and Erwin Jericha.
Simple questions, complex physics
The physics problems at the heart of the competition have been known for more than eight months. “They are unusual, challenging questions that require quite a bit of physics knowledge,” says Alberto Rolandi. The questions do not have a simple answer that can simply be looked up somewhere. They are open-ended questions designed to encourage creative research and hypothesis-building. The students have had time to develop experiments, measure data and carry out calculations. Equipped with this knowledge, Team Austria will now travel to the USA on Sunday.
The competition is modelled on academic peer review: in Oklahoma, the individual teams will present their results and hypotheses, while another team will then be tasked with asking critical questions and scrutinizing their work. After all, science thrives on critical exchange. Points are awarded both for good independent work and for constructive criticism – by a jury of professional physicists.
Taking part for the second time
For TU Wien, this is the second time participating in the IPT. “Some members of the team were already there last year, which is of course a great advantage – you already have a sense of what matters in the competition and how best to present your work,” says Alberto Rolandi.
In total, 21 teams will compete against each other in Oklahoma. The winner of the 2026 IPT will be known at the end of next week. What is already clear today is that the participants have been gaining valuable experience in practical research work for months – and will now have the opportunity in Oklahoma to practise the important skill of arguing precisely and presenting physical insights convincingly.