GOOD NEWS First gold medal for BiH from an international physics competition!

(Patria) - The Second Balkan Physics Olympiad for high school students was held. Due to the global coronavirus pandemic, the Olympiad was held online. Representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina also participated in this online Olympiad: Marko Vučić (Gimnazija Banja Luka), Fatih Žgalj (Prva bošnjačka gimnazija, Sarajevo), Nikola Lakić (Technical School „Mihajlo Pupin”, Bijeljina) and Dženan Midžić (Gimnazija Bihać).

The Balkan Physics Olympiad is intended for first and second grade high school students, and four students from BiH, Bulgaria, Turkey, Serbia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Turkmenistan, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Cyprus and Greece participated, a total of 48 competitors. A historic success was achieved at the Olympiad. Student Marko Vučić won the gold medal and, based on the number of points, placed third in the overall standings.

"This is the first gold medal for Bosnia and Herzegovina from an international physics competition," Majra Šišić told us.

Our other students also showed good results, so students Fatih Žgalj and Nikola Lakić won bronze medals, and Dženan Midžič received an honorable mention.

"The leaders of our team were Majra Šišić (a student at the Department of Physics, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in Sarajevo) and Jelena Lazić (a student at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Belgrade)," they told us from the association „Society of Physicists in FBiH” which organized the participation of our team.

After the selection competition for participation in the Balkan Olympiad, which was held at the beginning of September, preparations of the students began through solving theoretical problems. 

"Our students received practice tasks every week. Former BiH Olympians Nola Šegalo, Muhamed Sokolović (second-year students at the Department of Physics in Sarajevo), Fahrudin Delić (a student at Jacobs University, Bremen, Germany) and Selver Pepić, a doctoral student at the Institute of Science and Technology (IST) in Austria, also participated in these preparations," they further point out.

Despite this year's difficult circumstances, the Society of Physicists organized the participation of our students in international physics competitions such as the Nordic-Baltic Olympiad, where one silver and two bronze medals were won, and the European Olympiad, where two bronze medals were won. Both Olympiads were held online.

"We recommend students who want to learn more physics and prepare for physics competitions to apply for the Online School of Physics, which starts in November and will last 8 weeks. More information can be obtained on the website and Facebook page of the Society of Physicists in FBiH," said Majra Šišić.