Similar to the IPhO, the competition is designed for high school students. The age of the contestants should not exceed twenty years on June 30th of the year of the competition, i.e. their 21st birthday should be after that date. We shall consider the age in years as a rounded digit with the floor function having been applied. In other words, if someone’s 21st birthday is July 2, he/she is eligible.

The competition is open for countries from Europe and beyond. Each country is eligible to send one team consisting of up to 5 students and one leader; observers and/or visitors are also welcome. The host country is eligible to send a second team. Countries officially participating in the EuPhO accept the responsibility of organising the competition themselves at some point in time.

Educational systems vary from country to country, and in some cases the boundary between a high school and a university becomes vague. Per current definition, we consider a school where students have more than one third of lectures (on average per year) on topics related either to physics or mathematics to be equivalent to a university. However, if there are students in your team who come from schools which according to this criterion are considered universities, but you feel that those students have not been taught university-level physics courses, please contact the President of EuPhO to find a fair solution.

The competition consists of two rounds: an experimental exam and a theoretical exam.

There is no discussion of the problem texts, it is the responsibility of the international academic committee of the Olympiad to guarantee the quality of the problems. Academic committee is also responsible for the grading of the problems (if necessary, they can appoint additional markers). The problem texts are short, so the leaders are expected to be able to complete the translation of both theoretical and experimental problems within an hour.

IPhO-style moderation of the marks is substituted by appellation: it is the responsibility of students to appeal any unjust grading (leaders can be present during the appellation and, if needed, translate the communication).

During the theoretical round (5 hours), there are three problems, one of which is very difficult, one is moderately difficult, and one is relatively less demanding. Full solution of each problem gives 10 points, grading granularity is one point. Partial credit is given for each idea or formula which is used in a full solution. During experimental examination (5 hours), there will be one or two tasks.

The award thresholds in points is determined after appellation as such smallest numbers that at least 8% of participants will receive a gold medal, at least 25% – a gold or silver medal, 50% – a gold, silver, or bronze medal. The results of participants from non-European countries do not affect the award thresholds, but all the contestants with marks above the thresholds are awarded with medals.

The participation fee for the students and the team leader for a European team is 250 EUR per person giving a total of 1500 EUR for a full team of five students and one leader. The participation fee per every additional observer or guest is 350 EUR. The same fee applies for all members of guest teams.

If you are a team leader, you can obtain the invoice and specify the details about your team by registering to the event. If you are not a pre-registered team leader, please express your interest to participate by contacting us.