T

he final round of the international educational contest World Physics Olympiad (WoPhO) was opened on Wednesday night in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara. The six-day event was participated in by 142 students from 15 countries.

WoPhO is an open competition initiated by scholars from the Surya Institute Indonesia. In his speech, WoPhO co-founder Yohanes Surya said the competition was open to everyone keen to compete in physics.

“Through WoPhO, participants from around the world can compete without bureaucratic difficulties from their respective country,” he said.

Different from other contests, which normally last for five to eight days, WoPhO is held over one year and is divided into three rounds. The selection round took place from January to June and the discussion round from July to December.

The final round in Mataram will run from Dec. 28, 2011, through Jan. 3, 2012.

Several participants in this final round won gold medals in the Asian Physics Olympiad. Others are students from top universities such as MIT and Harvard.

WoPhO offers a grand prize of US$20,000. Winners in Best Theoretical Result and Best Experimental Result will receive $10,000 each.

“The participants from the host country who gets the highest points will get $5,000,” Surya added.

The opening ceremony was attended by Hans Jodan from the World Federation of Physics Competition, Asian Physics Olympiad secretary-general Hendra Kwee and officials from the provincial administration.

Meanwhile, Youths and Sports Office head Lalu Syafi’i said he was proud of the fact that the province had been selected to host the international event.

“This is a rare opportunity yet stimulating. This competition is very prestigious as it is attended by participants from many countries,” he said, adding that the province had entered 15 students in the competition

“This is a contest of the winners. Those who come to this event have achievements in their pockets. To participate in and to host the event is very inspiring,” he added.

He said the physics olympiad would also introduce the visiting foreign participants to the province and would help promote tourism in West Nusa Tenggara province.

The participating countries are Indonesia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, China, Estonia, Slovakia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Hungary, Russia, Bulgaria, Belarus, Germany, Brazil and Poland.