Participants and Organizing Committee members of PLANCKS 2019. Photo courtesy of PLANCKS 2019 Organizing Committee.
In May 2019, a team of four students from NTU participated in the PLANCKS competition, an annual international physics competition. This year, the competition was organized by the University of Southern Denmark and took place in Odense, Denmark. The NTU team placed 11 out of 34. Congratulations to all team members!
During the PLANCKS competition, each team of four students attempts to solve, within 4 hours, ten questions ranging across multiple disciplines of theoretical physics. The topics range from standard undergraduate topics such as quantum mechanics and thermal physics, to specialized topics such as non-linear optics and topological insulators.
The NTU team consisted of Ha Quang Trung, Farisan Dary, Kon Wen Yu, and Gan Beng Yee, who were at the time all undergraduate students at the Division of Physics and Applied Physics in NTU’s School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (SPMS). Previous teams from NTU had ranked 23/31 in 2018, 18/36 in 2017, and 18/23 in 2016.
Aside from pushing their limits by tackling challenging problems, our students had the opportunity to attend several guest lectures, including a talk by Professor Wolfgang Ketterle, the 2001 Nobel Laureate in Physics. They also went on university visits and lab tours, as well as a memorable field trip to explore the rustic and peaceful city of Odense. Last but not least, they had the opportunity to make friends with physics students across the globe.
This year’s PLANCKS team was supported by SPMS’s Odyssey program, an initiative to encourage SPMS students to participate in scientific events in Singapore and around the world. The team would like to thank the School for its kind support.
Team NTU Singapore walking to the competition on an 11-degree Celsius Scandinavian summer morning. Clockwise from left: Kon Wen Yu, Ha Quang Trung, Farisan Dary, Gan Beng Yee.
Team NTU Singapore with a team from Linz University, Austria during BBQ Night.