From May 15 to 17, around 20 students from grades 10 and 11 will come together at the Rhineland-Palatinate Technical University Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU) for a physics seminar and the 3rd round of the state physics competition. Half of them will compete in the final round of the competition. In addition, all the young people attend physics workshops and conduct experiments in the laboratory. The program includes wave optics, measurement techniques and working in the physics laboratory. The winner of the state competition will be chosen on Wednesday, May 17.

Ten students will compete in the final round of the state physics competition at the RPTU in Kaiserslautern. They have to present a previously completed assignment and present the results of their work in a colloquium. They are also required to carry out and evaluate two experiments independently in the laboratory. The performance in the experiments, the colloquium and the term paper are evaluated in equal parts and ultimately decide who wins the competition.

The winner will be invited by the Department of Physics to take part in a practical course where they will gain an insight into laboratory work. Parallel to the competition, there is a physics seminar for all pupils.

In lectures and experiments, they gain an insight into physics research together with the competition participants. Among other things, they will learn about light and color in flower and plant colors, measurement methods and devices from wave optics and the acoustics of black holes. In addition, all young people will receive information about early studies in physics (FiPS) and the physics, biophysics and techno-physics courses offered by the Department of Physics at RPTU in Kaiserslautern.

The students attend various grammar schools in Rhineland-Palatinate.
The state physics competition was launched by the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is sponsored by the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Education, the State Research Center for Optics and Materials Science (OPTIMAS), the Collaborative Research Centers SFB-TR185 (OSCAR - Open System Control of Atom and Photonic Matter) and SFB-TR173 (SPIN+X - Spin in its collective environment) as well as the Sparkasse Kaiserslautern.

Questions answered:
Anett Fleischhauer
Dean's Office Physics
Phone: 0631 205-5251
E-mail: anett.fleischhauer(at)rptu.de