Welcome to UBC Physics Olympics Website
**The 48th Physics Olympics is scheduled to run on Saturday, February 28th, 2026**
Thank you again BC High Schools for joining us at the 47th Physics Olympics competition on UBC-V campus.
This was an incredible event full of positive team energies, crowds of inspired teachers and students, shouts of excitement and tension rippling over teams and onlookers at the builds and quizzics events, and the best vibes of encouragement overheard in every corner of our Hennings, Hebb and Woodward buildings. Saturday March 1st will go down in the history books as one of our best attended Physics Olympics of all time, hosting 81 teams and over 80 volunteers!
We wish to thank our high school participants for being a part of our Olympics event this year. Seeing all this great student talent was truly thrilling for our faculty and staff organizers. We hope to see some of you on campus in future!
Teachers, we greatly appreciate your preparation, education and team leadership each year for this competition. Great work! We hope you enjoyed this year’s workshop: “AI-Powered K-12 Physics Education: Optimizing Inclusive Teaching Through Creative Multi-Tool Integration” and our free textbooks for your interest and use.
All in all, this is our largest competitive event, our most creative showcase of faculty talents for pre-builds and labs, our greatest collaboration with faculty and students to pull together Fermi and Quizzics questions, and our most populous willing student volunteer cohort. From all of us to all of you, thank you again for joining us, and we look forward to seeing you again, next year!
To share comments and ideas, please contact outreach@phas.ubc.ca.
** This event is an in-person event only for schools in British Columbia **
Teacher’s Workshop
November 21st from 7:00-8:00pm via zoom. [*Zoom link and further details will be sent to registrants closer to the event].
Are you a new physics teacher? Feeling hesitant to sign up your class for this event as you don’t know what it takes?
Join us for this enjoyable and friendly annual Teacher’s Workshop, bringing together new and experienced high school teachers and students with our event organizers to answer all your questions about how to prepare your class for participating in this event and how to make every heat count!
We provide a lot of support, and so does your community of physics teachers. Be part of the biggest High School physics competition in Canada! Register for this workshop, today!
Physics Facility Tours
Part of the fun of coming to UBC from different parts of the province is to see a bit of UBC campus, including some of our physics & astronomy research facilities. As in previous years, we will be organizing tours:
- TRIUMF: tour of Canada’s particle accelerator!
- Quantum Matter Institute: Quantum lab tour – see amazing equipment and learn about the future of quantum materials!
- PHAS: CHIME lab: learn about CHIME, Canada’s radio telescope.
To get more information about tours, please contact outreach@phas.ubc.ca.
About the Physics Olympics
Every year teams from high schools across British Columbia compete in six physics & astronomy events. The team with the highest overall score receives a trophy for their school, as well as other awards. Up to five students from a team can participate in any given event, and different students from a team can participate in different events. As such, teams may have between 1 and 30 students.
While every school team must have a designated coach on the day of the competition, we do not require that the coach be the physics teacher for the school. Any responsible adult may serve as the designated coach, including teachers, parents, administrators, or friends.
Details concerning the logistics of the event are included in the rule book. School teams arrive at the lobby of the Hennings Building around 8:30 am to register, receive the envelope with all the information, and store the pre-builds. The schedule runs from 9am-5pm (approximately). UBC Physics Olympics takes place in the following buildings: Hennings, Hebb, and IRC (Woodward). These buildings can be located on UBC map: http://www.maps.ubc.ca/PROD/index.php .
The interactive map for wayfinding at UBC can be found here: http://www.maps.ubc.ca/PROD/index.php
To see past projects please see the Results page for videos!
Download Your 2025 Physics Olympics Poster Here:
Physics Olympics Feedback
“Some of the highlights of my career were my trips to UBC for the Physics Olympics. It was always a valuable experience for me and the students I brought down.” – Tom Nagy, Physics teacher (Mount Boucherie Secondary, West Kelowna)
“The UBC PO is always a highlight of our students’ school year.” – Louay El Halabi, Physics teacher (Semiahmoo Secondary, Surrey BC)
Thank YOU so much for all the hard work that went into making this happen. My students learned so much these past few weeks preparing and enjoyed themselves tremendously. It was a terrific learning opportunity as always. – Mrs Greenwood, Physics/Computer Programming Teacher
The Physics Olympics is more than just a competition for our students – it has given them unforgettable memories, skills that will last a lifetime, and a sense of community that continues to grow. Thank you again for everything you do to make this event possible. We’ll be back next year! – Mark Lam, Physics Teacher (Eric Hamber Secondary School)
2025 Physics Olympics participating teams
Click on the map to open in a new tab.
Looking for something else?
*Looking for information about the International Physics Olympiad? The International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) is the World Championship Physics Competition for High School students and is held annually in different countries. For the official IPhO website, please see here. Our National student team to represent Canada for 2025 will be selected from top placements in the annual Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) High School Prize Exam. For more information, please see the Canadian Physics Olympiad program page here.