27.07.2026
I’m Sarthak, and I represented India at the International Young Physicists’ Tournament (IYPT) 2026 at ETH Zürich and have also represented my country at the IYPT 2024 in Budapest and the International Philosophy Olympiads (IPOs) from 2024–2026 in Helsinki, Bari, and Warsaw. Throughout these competitions, I had the chance to meet the Swiss teams and philosophize with them, and, in the context of the IYPT, even “fight” over physics. After the IYPT in Zürich, I even spent a couple of days camping with a Swiss friend from the FIRST Robotics Competition in Niederurnen and met up in Buchs with a friend from Liechtenstein whom I know through the IPO.
During the tournament, we also had the opportunity to hike up Stoos, and I still recall the discussions on the Bergson–Einstein space-time debates that continued along the hike and as we rode the steepest funicular in Europe! These discussions at the intersection of Physics and Philosophy were perhaps the most memorable part of my trip, especially as we stood and reflected in front of Einstein’s locker at ETH. There was also a lot of walking involved throughout the week, which was punctuated by playing volleyball and karaoke at the lake, World Cup watch parties, and art gallery browsing in the city centre. About the tournament itself, I was extremely happy to see our country progress in the rankings, achieving its best-ever score at the tournament. I really enjoy the format of the physics fights — those grueling four hours where you are aggressively taking down notes, passing chits to your team, and actively learning more about problems in a couple of hours than you’ve already spent a year working on, all while getting better at scientific communication in the process. I especially enjoy the role of the reviewer, as I get to clarify all the clashes and present the new and improved scientific understanding of the phenomenon to everyone involved in the fight, and I am happy to say that I achieved our country’s highest reviewer score ever this season!
After the tournament, and other than the IPO and FRC meetups, I hiked some more, learnt to swim, attended a Duran Duran concert in Locarno, performatively discussed Picasso in Lucerne, and had an absolute blast in Switzerland. I hope to be here again soon.
