The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented by the King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity "Mawhiba", has won 4 international awards in its second consecutive participation in the European Physics Olympiad (EuPhO 2020) in its fourth version, virtually hosted by Romania from 19 to 26 July 2020.
Students Ahmed Al-Haid from the Al-Ahsa Education Department, Hisham Al-Malki from the Riyadh Education Department, and student Hussam Nuruli from the Makkah Education Department each won a bronze medal, while student Al-Qasim Senegali from the Makkah Education Department achieved a certificate of appreciation.
With this international wining, the Kingdom raised its balance of the European Physics Olympiad awards to 6 awards; gold and bronze medals, and certificates of appreciation, as the Saudi physics team won two medals (gold and bronze) in its first participation in the 2019 Olympiad held in the Republic of Latvia.
The Kingdom was represented in the European Physics Olympiad by a five-student team, who are:
Hussein Al-Shamasi from the Eastern Education Department, Al-Qasim Senegali, and Hussam Nuruli from the Makkah Education Department, Hisham Al-Maliki from the Riyadh Education Department, and Ahmed Al-Haid from the Al-Ahsa Education Department.
The Saudi team participating in the Physics Olympiad underwent several periodic tests by Saudi and foreign experts, and they were trained in higher thinking skills, by dealing with unfamiliar physical experiments that were specifically designed for local and international competitions, and through tools specifically designed for questions of a high level of thinking, containing ideas and puzzles that challenge students and qualify them to compete for Olympic awards.
Mawhiba highly valued the role and efforts of its partners; the Ministry of Education, King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST), the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, Princess Noura Bint Abdul Rahman University, and King Saud University for its efforts in training, qualifying and refining the skills of Saudi teams in the International Olympiad to compete for winning awards and raise the Kingdom's name on the coronation podiums among the first world countries.
The Saudi team underwent two tests; theoretical and practical, each is 5 hours long, with local supervision and surveillance cameras from the organizing committee.
The European Physics Olympiad is a competition for high school students, and its first edition was launched in 2017 in Estonia, and its second edition 2018 was held in Russia, while Latvia hosted its third edition. The concept of the EuPhO Olympiad is based on real research situations, describing short problems, and providing plenty of room for creative solutions for participating students.
