Indonesian High Schoolers Win Medals in International Physics Olympiad

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Physics Olympics Team managed to take home five medals in the 52nd International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) that was held virtually in Zurich from July 10-17.

The Indonesian team consisted of five members that came from five different schools in four Indonesian provinces. Together, they won one gold medal, three silver medals, and one bronze medal. 

The team comprises Jonathan Tjandra from the SMAK Calvin DKI Jakarta, John Howard Wijaya (SMA Darma Yudha Pekanbaru), Berwyn (SMAK Penabur DKI Jakarta), David Michael Indraputra (SMAK Penabur Gading Serpong), and Althaaf Syaikha Nuhaad (SMA Kesatuan Bangsa Yogyakarta).

Acting Head of the National Achievement Center, Asep Sukmayadi, gave his highest appreciation to the five students who won five medals at the 2022 IPhO event, which was published on the institution’s website on Tuesday, July 19.  

“Congratulations to the Indonesian physics talent and the entire team. Thank you for your proud achievement. We believe that this will continue to be an inspiration for the excellence of Indonesian children and the hope of the nation's future," Asep Sukmayadi wrote. 

The International Physics Olympiad is participated by 368 students from 75 countries across the globe. These participants went through two stages of the test with the first being an experimental test on July 11 and progressed to theoretical tests on July 13. 

Each experimental and theoretical test lasted for five hours non-stop. The correction and moderation phase lasts until Friday evening, July 15, 2022. All tests are conducted online. Including experimental tests carried out virtually through computer simulations.

The Indonesian physics team this year was led by University of Indonesia physicist Syamsu Rosid and accompanied by Rinto Anugraha from the Gadjah Mada University physics department. There were two observers Bobby Eka Gunara (Physics ITB) and Budhy Kurniawan (Physics UI) and a supervising team comprised of  Zulkarnain and Robin Kristian.

The 2022 IPhO felt different from usual as Belarus, which was originally going to host it in April was finally canceled. The cancellation was a direct result of Belarus being involved in the Russian attack on Ukraine. Both Russia and Belarus were banned to participate in this year's IPhO competition. The IPhO president then appointed Switzerland to host the 2022 IPhO.

The Belarus official 52nd IPhO confirmed this on its official website stating, “Dear team leaders and organizers, working to arrange national teams’ participation in the 52nd International Physics Olympiad (IPhO 2022),” they added, “To our great regret, in spite of our country’s readiness to host the event, the IPhO International Council extraordinary meeting, which was held on 3 April 2022, decided to cancel the IPhO 2022 in Belarus.”

TEMPO.CO

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