Int’l Physics Olympiad 2024 kicks off in Iran's Isfahan

sfahan, IRNA – The International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) 2024 has kicked off in Iran’s historical city of Isfahan, bringing nearly 200 high school students from across the globe to compete in one of the world's science competitions.

The nine-day event, which is the 54th edition of the IPhO, began on Monday at Isfahan University of Technology.

Some 198 students are participating in the scientific competition. The participants along with their companions numbering 150 began arriving in the city a day earlier.

The participating teams are from Iran, Russia, China, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Romania, Turkiye, Mexico, Georgia, Bulgaria, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Croatia, Colombia, Belarus, Kuwait and Vietnam.

Oman and Morocco are taking part as observers in order to get familiar with the international competition.

The first IPhO was held in Poland in 1967. With the number of countries, which joined the competition, increasing each year, the event encountered some problems during the 15 years afterwards. However, since 1982, it has been held regularly every year, expect in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic.

This is the second time that Isfahan hosts the IPhO. The last time the city held the event was in 2007.    

Iran joined the IPhO 36 years ago, with its students snatch a significant number of medals over the years. This year, 5 Iranian students are taking part in the competition.