Emory Physics Students go to PLANCKS International Competition!

Emory Physics undergrads represent the USA internationally at this year's PLANCKS competition in the Netherlands from May 21-25, 2026.

PLANCKS is an exam-based physics competition for bachelor's and master's students. It is the Collegiate International Physics Olympiad where every year between 25-30 countries from all across the world send 1-2 teams of 4 students to the competition. It is run by the International Association for Physics Students (IAPS).

PLANCKS (Physical League Across Numerous Countries for Kick-ass Students) is an acronym clearly created in honor of Max Plank (1858-1947) the German physicist who founded quantum theory and revolutionized 20th-century physics.

The USA preliminaries were held in February 2026 where Emory students competed against 24 other teams across the country. Their team name is the "Emory University Spherical Cows", comprised of four Emory Physics Students: Yurok Song (26C 27BJS), Andre Kalish (26C), Hai Nguyen (27C), and Victor Perea Rojas (27C). At the internatational event Ashton Parker (26C) replaced Victor who could not attend. 

Emory, along with the MIT team, were the two teams selected to represent the USA internationally at PLANCKS in May 2026. This represents the first time Emory is part of this international competition. The American Institute of Physics (AIP) and the Society of Physics Students (SPS), along with Emory University, sponsored the team's travel to the Netherlands. The 2026 International PLANCKS Competition included 55 teams from 28 countries, where Emory placed 34th overall.