NKUA achieves remarkable results at IPT 2025

A six-member team of undergraduate students from the NKUA’s Department of Physics represented Greece at the 17^th International Physicists’ Tournament (IPT 2025) held in Warsaw, Poland, from 7 to 13 April 2025 (https://iptnet.info/).

The members of Team Greece, listed in alphabetical order, were as follows: Undergraduate students Maria Giga (Team Captain), Giorgos Kyriopoulos, Andreas Lymperopoulos, Panos Nikolakis, Filippos Typas, and Eva Fragkou. Postgraduate student Iasonas Kazazis served as Team Leader, while undergraduate student Elisavet Pavlidi participated as Guest.

Coordinating the team’s preparation was Professor Theocharis Apostolatos of the Section of Astrophysics, Astronomy, and Mechanics—a recent recipient of the ‘Outstanding University Teaching’ award—along with other faculty members at the Department of Physics of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Valuable contributions were also made by PhD candidates Argyris Loules and Evgenia Koutsoumpou, both former Team Leaders and Reviewers at the IPT, as well as by doctoral student Despina Karavola, who assisted with the selection and preparation of the participants.

This year, the Greek team achieved 2^nd place worldwide in the preselection round of the tournament and advanced to the next phase, eventually finishing 11^th overall. In doing so, Greece outperformed teams from the United States, Canada, Israel, Poland, Finland, and other nations, among a total of 26 participating in the preselection and 18 in the finals.

In a first for Team Greece, two of its members got individual honours: Filippos Typas won the Best Opponent Award for scoring the most points in this capacity, and Christos Andrikopoulos was named Best Reviewer. Christos has previously represented NKUA as both Team Leader and Captain and contributed as a long-standing member of the Executive Committee and Representative for Greece to the IPT’s International Organizing Committee. Succeeding him in this role, Maria Giga will now take on the responsibility, in recognition of her proven ability and extensive experience in the tournament.