Premier Competition

What is it?

Every November, hundreds of high school-level students around the world showcase their skills by competing in an individual-based physics competition hosted internationally. This event bears the name Physics Unlimited Premier Competition.

The 2023 Premier Competition will take place worldwide on Saturday, November 4, 2023. The event will again have a virtual component by default. Registration is now open and will last until November 1.

The 2022 Premier Competition took place worldwide on Sunday, November 6, 2022. Due to the continuing spread of COVID-19, the event had a virtual component by default.

The 2021 Premier Competition took place worldwide on Sunday, November 14, 2021. Due to COVID-19 the event was again hosted virtually by default.

The 2020 Premier Competition took place in multiple time zones on Sunday, November 15, 2020. Due to COVID-19 the event was held virtually by default. For students located in China, our partner organization hosted it as a hybrid model, please see this page for details.

The 2019 Premier Competition took place on Sunday, November 17, 2019.

General overview

We invite high school students around the world to take part in this internationally-hosted challenge exam. Since 2020 it is possible to compete virtually from any corner of the world, subject to the availability of a stable Internet connection.

Competitors are given 1.5 hours to write their solutions to approximately four problems of the level and scope roughly equivalent to what one may expect in U.S.-based AP Physics 1, 2, and/or C curricula. Therefore, problems may cover areas beyond classical mechanics.

Physics Unlimited oversees global sites, facilitated through partnerships with educational and non-profit institutions listed here.

Assignment and results archive

Competition packets from recent years: 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022
Lists of finalists from recent years: 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022
Problem packets, solutions, and results from earlier iterations: 2014-2016

Kinds of prizes

The standard prizes include conventional gold, silver, and bronze-level recognition certificates, in addition to honorable mention certificates. All competitors additionally receive a certificate of participation. Due to the global nature of this competition, all prizes are e-mailed by the organizers to their correspodning recipients in digital form.

If you took part in the Premier Competition previously, we hope you have both enjoyed and were challenged by the featured problems, and we encourage you to participate again this year. We also invite you to consider our other recurring events, or, if you have graduated high school and are now in a university, please consider a volunteer role.

Finally, we would like to extend gratitude to our partners representating the international sites hosting the competition for their time and dedication, and we look forward to expanding our partnership network in the coming year.