The Saudi physics team enhanced its presence among giants, continuing to flourish by winning 3 international awards at the sixth edition of European Physics Olympiad EuPhO 2022, hosted by Slovenia during the period from May 20-24, of 182 male and female students representing 37 countries, so that the awards balance of KSA, represented in “Mawhiba" Foundation and the Ministry of Education, in the Olympiad reached 13 awards.
The student, Sadek Al Abbad of Riyadh Education Department, won the bronze medal. The student, Mohammed Al Barakat of Eastern Province Education Department, has been awarded a certificate of merit. The student, Hussain Kadah of Jeddah Education Department, has been awarded a certificate of merit.
Dr. Amal Al Hazaa, Secretary General of King Abdulaziz and his Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity “Mawhiba" said that such achievement is added to the series of achievements of the country's sons in international forums, confirming that the Saudi students, with their gifts and competitive aptitudes, succeeded in winning awards, pointing out that Mawhiba Foundation is working hard to enable gifted Saudis of the system of skills and competencies according to the world latest methods of discovering and sponsoring gifted people and to contribute to achieving the goals of the KSA's Vision 2030.
The Saudi team participating in the European Physics Olympiad underwent intense preparation, during which each student received 2385 training hours in Mawhiba by an elite group of Saudi and foreign instructors. It also underwent to several periodic tests, and they have been trained on higher-order thinking skills, through dealing with unusual physical experiments which are specifically designed for local and international competitions and through tools specifically designed for high-level thinking questions, containing ideas and puzzles that challenge students and qualify them to compete for Olympiad awards.
The country has been represented in the Olympiad by a team included 5 students who took the test over two days, with a daily average of 5 hours. The first day was theoretical, including 3 problems with deep ideas needing creative solutions, and the second one was practical.
The European Physics Olympiad is a competition for high school students. It is characterized by short problems needing creative solutions. It is open for the countries of Europe and abroad. The participating countries are entitled to send 5 students and one leader. It depends on the international Olympiad policies and subjects.
The first European Physics Olympiad has been launched in 2017 in Estonia. The concept of Olympiad depends on real research situations, with short problem descriptions and plenty of space for creative solutions of participating students.
