Family: Cláudio Manuel Neves Valente, from Maria Lamas Secondary School, Torres Novas. The delegation also included the “team leaders” Prof. Manuel Fiolhais and Adriano Lima, members of the National Commission of the Physics Olympiads.
In this International Olympiad, 51 national delegations participated, which at the time constituted a record number of presences. The number of participating countries has grown especially over the last ten years, since the IPhO lost the connotation it previously had with Eastern European countries.
As usual, the competition consisted of three theoretical problems and two experimental ones. China obtained first place (Chinese students placed individually in first, second, fifth, sixth, and twelfth positions), followed by the United States and Iran. The best European countries were Germany, in sixth place, and the United Kingdom, in seventh. Vietnam and South Korea were, respectively, fourth and fifth, replacing Eastern European countries that traditionally occupied the top positions.
Out of a total of 250 participants, the places obtained by our representatives were: 198, 202 (two students), 213, and 240. These positions are below what might have been expected, considering that student preparation had been carried out with a view to participation in the IPhO. This preparation sought to bridge the gap between the subjects currently taught in our education system and the broader IPhO syllabus. Given that the results of the specific entrance exams to higher education obtained by Olympiad students are at the top of the national list, we must admit that the selection process was appropriate. An analysis of the students’ answers in the Olympiad problems reveals that, although they understood the questions, they failed mainly due to a lack of persistence in searching for the final answer. There is an abysmal difference between what happens in assessments in our education system—where each problem is structured into questions of increasing difficulty—and what happens in the IPhO, where the problem is presented in its final form, requiring the student to infer all the necessary steps for its solution. The methodology followed in the International Physics Olympiad fits within the framework of a competition among excellent students from a large number of countries, making it necessary to use extremely selective ranking criteria. In general, Ibero-American countries performed poorly (besides Portugal and Spain, Mexico, Cuba, Colombia, and Argentina participated), with the exception of Argentina, which obtained an honorable mention through a student who had already participated in the IPhO the previous year.
The academic program of the Olympiad was complemented by a scientific–cultural interest program, highlighting visits to research laboratories and to the Department of Physics at the University of Canberra, natural reserves, and the Tidbinbilla satellite tracking station.
The five students of the Olympic team who participated in the 26th International Physics Olympiad, held in 1995 in Canberra, Australia, accompanied by the Team Leaders.
It is appropriate here to mention the hospitality with which the delegation was welcomed at Portuguese diplomatic representations in Australia. Thus, the Consul General of Portugal in Sydney offered a reception to the Portuguese delegation on the day of their arrival, while in transit to Canberra. Present at this meeting were representatives of the Portuguese community in Sydney, namely teachers, secondary and higher education students, and journalists. The Ambassador of Portugal in Canberra also kindly invited the Portuguese delegation to a dinner at the Embassy.
Thanks are due to Professors Pedro Alberto, Carlos Fiolhais, and Carlos Lopes Gil, from the Department of Physics at the University of Coimbra, who collaborated with the team leaders in the short three-day preparation that took place in Coimbra shortly before departure for Australia. Finally, it should be noted that the teacher of the best-ranked Portuguese student, Dr. José Manuel da Silva Morgado, from Maria Lamas Secondary School, Torres Novas, was offered a three-day visit to CERN (Geneva, Switzerland).
The next IPhO, the twenty-seventh, will take place from June 30 to July 7, in Oslo, Norway.
