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UoB Students Participate as Observers in the International Physics Exam Program
With the Participation Of 40 Countries Around the World
UoB Students Participate as Observers in the International Physics Exam Program
Six students from the Physics Department at the College of Science at the University of Bahrain (UoB) participated as observers in the PLANCKS 2021 International Examination Program, which was held recently in the Portuguese city of Porto, attended by hundreds of students, and in which 50 teams from 40 countries around the world competed.
As the students from UoB, in cooperation with students of other countries, ranked second and fourth in the general knowledge test in the PLANCKS2021 program.
The general knowledge test in the PLANCKS2021 program is an international competition in theoretical physics, which is for undergraduate students from all over the world. The program includes an introductory seminar, a competition, a number of lectures and workshops, and social trips and activities, through which participants discover the research environment and culture of the host country. The PLANCKS competition is at the heart of the field of physics and includes solving 12 difficult theoretical physics problems, in a variety of topics, including: Newtonian mechanics, cosmological scales, general relativity, the emergence of the universe, quantum theory, and particle physics.
The Head of the Physics Department at the College of Science at UoB, Dr. Hanan Mubarak Al-Buflasa, indicated that this program provides an opportunity for physics students around the world to communicate, and to increase opportunities for international cooperation, by hosting social activities and creating a fertile environment for the exchange of ideas and experiences, which would develop the personalities of the contestants and create a spirit of challenge within them.
The Direct Supervisor of the students participating in the competition, Dr. Mohammed Yousif Hussain, explained that “The participating students from UoB expressed their admiration for the exam program after attending seminars and lectures delivered by senior scientists around the world in various fields of physics, during which they discussed quantum field theory, space weather, quantum sciences, plasma physics, relativity theory, and Newtonian mechanics. Pointing to the great interaction of UoB students in a lecture by Professor Jocelyn Bell, which shed light on how she accidentally discovered pulsars when she was a PhD student, the challenges that one must overcome, and the importance of perseverance to pursue a career in science.
Moreover, Dr. Hussein stressed the importance of students’ social and cultural interaction, in addition to the scientific benefits from the PLANCKS2021 competition, pointing to the students’ knowledge of the types of research and opportunities available to them around the world, and the challenges faced by students of physics in general in all countries. He stated: ” During the break for the communities, the participating students from UoB gave an overview of the Kingdom of Bahrain, its history, cultural heritage, geographical location, and culture, a general overview of UoB, and another one about the Physics Department at the College of Science at UoB.”
And he explained that this year’s program, which was conducted remotely for the exceptional circumstances of the Corona pandemic (Covid-19), was done without any changes to the program’s activities, including learning about the culture and language of Portugal, pointing to a virtual tour done in the Portuguese city of Porto.
On the last day of the program, the results of the competition were announced, where the Oxford and Cambridge Universities team from the United Kingdom won, in addition to another team from Germany, and the winners received prizes in the multiples of the Planck constant, which is famous in physics, and the program’s host country for the coming year 2022 was announced, which will be Munich, Germany.
It is worth noting that the students who participated in the (PLANCKS2021) program this year are: Abdullah Mohammad Al-Zayed, Asif bin Ayoub Mohammed, Ali Madan Makki, Ali Mohammed Redha, Kumail Abdulaziz Radhi, and Sayed Ali Makki.
