Yr 13 Alan Chen Tackles Global Physics Stage

Year 13 student Alan Chen was selected for the 2025 New Zealand team competing in the International Young Physicists’ Tournament (IYPT), held at the University of Lund in Sweden. This prestigious event brings together secondary school students from around the globe to present solutions to seventeen complex, open-ended physics problems.

“I was lucky enough to be part of New Zealand’s 2025 IYPT team, which involved many weeks of experimentation, modelling, and analysis – a valuable glimpse into the world of academic research,” Alan said. A highlight was using the University of Auckland’s spectroscopy lab to investigate the Raman effect as part of the Quantum Fingerprint problem.

Once in Sweden, Alan and his teammates took part in five ‘Physics fights,’ where they defended their own solutions and critiqued those of other teams. “Though these were stressful, I was able to meet like-minded people from all around the world… who were also editing their presentations last-minute,” he said.

In the end, Team New Zealand finished just one spot shy of a bronze medal, an impressive achievement in a highly competitive field. “All in all, IYPT 2025 was an amazing experience. I encourage anyone interested to read the 2026 problems.”