In the early 2010s a few physics students at Princeton University volunteered with PUMaC, an annual math competition for high school students held on campus.
They wondered if it might be possible for them to put together a similar event with interesting problems from several subfields of physics and hold it at their department.
A year later, after months of preparation and writing up content, they held the very first Princeton University Physics Competition in 2014. Ever since, the event gradually grew in size and scope, with the original co-founders informally helping out the following years' organizers.
To achieve sustainability over the long term, a few years after graduating from Princeton, one of the original PUPC directors decided to form an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit that would oversee equivalent events at international sites and hold a separate online team-based competition for any high school students worldwide interested in delving deeper into advanced topics.
This is how Physics Unlimited was born.
Launched in 2017, this non-profit organization is run by alumni of Princeton University who founded and organized the first two PUPC competitions at Princeton.
While the operation of Physics Unlimited is entirely independent of Princeton University, the required level of coordination with relevant organizers of PUPC is maintained where appropriate in order for our events to succeed.
At present, Physics Unlimited is in charge of overseeing the following events:
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