Second Announcement

Dear Colleagues,

Based on a long-term existing initiative and need for a BALKAN PHYSICS OLYMPIAD, discussions at the last BPU Council held in Sofia, and the initiative from the Hellenic Physical Society, Greece, we have the pleasure to invite you to the 1^st Balkan Physics Olympiad – BPO2019.

The 1^st BPO will take place in Thessaloniki, Greece, July 14-18, 2019. The competition will be organized by the Hellenic Physical Society, Greece, under the auspices of the Balkan Physical Union (BPU), supported by the European Physical Society (EPS). The competition will also be under the aegis of the Department of Physics of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace and the Regional Government of Central Macedonia.

AIMS

The Balkan Physics Olympiad`s aims are:

• To offer an opportunity for an exciting competition between pupils in physics, from the region, following existing, good tradition in mathematics and informatics.
• The challenging, encouragement and development of Physics education in all participating member countries.
• The fostering of friendly relationships among pupils and teachers of the participating countries.
• The creation of opportunities for the exchange of information of school syllabi and practices within the member countries.
• The gaining of experience which will also be valuable as preparation for the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO).
• To provide training for pupils participating in the IPhO.
• To initiate discussions and cooperation regarding the education of Physics for the secondary schools of Balkan countries.
• The promotion of Physics, science and education in general.

RULES

• The Balkan Physics Olympiad (BPO) will be organized once every year. The first BPO2019 will be held on July 2019.
• The BPO can only be held in one of the BPU member countries and only pupils from the member countries can officially participate in the contest.
• The member countries of BPU are: Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Greece, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Turkey.
• The host country may also invite other pupils as unofficial participants.
• Pupils who are participating in the BPO2019, must be middle school or high school pupils, born after 1-1-2002.
• Each country can propose up to four problems and they should be e-mailed to the Chairman of the Scientific Committee until the 15^th of June. The proposed problems should include their solutions.
• The official language of the BPO is English.The team leaders of each country will be aiding with the translation of the questions in the official language of the country. Participant pupils will solve the problems in the official language of their country.

PRIZES

• There are 3 category of prizes to be awarded:
• First prize (gold medal)
• Second prize (silver medal)
• Third prize (bronze medal)
• The number of each prize/medal to be awarded will be decided by the Scientific Committee prior to the beginning of the BPO
• A certificate of Honorable Mention shall be awarded to each pupil contestant who does not receive a prize and who has obtained full marks on at least one question.
• A Certificate of Participation shall be given to all pupils contestants.
• The medals, certificates and other prizes will be given to the contestants at the official closing ceremony.

PARTICIPANTS

• Each participating country, including any guest country, should nominate one team of up to 4 pupils and up to two teachers (a leader and a deputy leader).
• Those pupils should be selected from the national competitionsof the member societies.

EXPENSES

• For the First BPO only the costs of travel to and from the place of the competition should be paid by the teams.
• All local expenses, including food and accommodation, for all invited teams and participants will be covered by the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) from Hellenic Physical Society.
• Accompanying persons and observers are welcome, but they should pay for their stay.

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE (SC)

• The Scientific Committee consists of a chairman and up to 9 experts (SC members), one from each participating country. The task of the Scientific Committee is to establish the curriculum, to select problems and to prepare the test, as well as to evaluate the solutions of the contestants and decide upon the final score and awards.
• The chairman of the first BPO SC will be appointed by the BPU Executive Committee based on the proposal from the host country.
• In case the Scientific Committee can not make a decision, by consensus or by simple majority of its members, the BPU Executive Committee will make a final decision related to the 1^st Balkan Physics Olympiad – BPO2019.

TEST

• Pupils must answer the test questions individually.
• The test will consist of 3 theoretical questions and problems and an experimental (data based) problem.
• The theoretical topics will account for the 70% of the total grade and the experimental data based question the remaining 30%.

EXPERTS AND TEAMS

• The experts from BPU countries should be nominated until May18^th 2019 via e-mail: balkanphysicsolympiad@gmail.com .
• The teams (pupils, leader and deputy leader) should be nominated until May31^st, 2019.
• In case that experts and teams are not nominated till the above displayed deadlines, the LOC in coordination with the BPU Executive Committee, can send invitations in accordance with the 1^st Balkan Physics Olympiad – BPO2019 Rules.