Photo: from the YSIA archive

Yury Grigoriev, head of the Theoretical Physics Department of the Institute of Physics and Technology of North-Eastern Federal University, headed the expert commission of the International Asian Physics Olympiad, which started in Yakutsk on May 2.

More than 20 countries have arrived in Yakutsk: Indonesia, Israel, Australia, China, Saudi Arabia, Romania, Thailand, Turkey and others. The Olympiad was opened with a welcoming speech by the head of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) Egor Borisov. "Welcome to the largest region of the largest country in the world. Yakutia is very fond of exact sciences, pays great attention to physical and mathematical disciplines. Due to the outstanding scientist Mikhail Alekseyev, the first school with in-depth study of these subjects was opened in the republic more than 50 years ago, the head said. "Today, on the 100th anniversary of his birth, we pay tribute to Mikhail Alekseev by conducting the XVIII Asian Physics Olympiad".

The chair of the jury, Yury Grigoriev, said that his colleagues were honored to judge the international Olympiad; among them an associate professor of the Department of Radio Physics and Electronics Efim Neustroev and master student Petr Nogovitsyn. Also, the commission includes the teacher of the Small Academy of Sciences of the RS (Y) Aleksey Grigoriev and the teacher of Physics of the republican lyceum Viktor Potapov. "In the name of all the great minds of mankind, we solemnly swear to judge honestly and fairly, regardless of names. Let our verdict be as undeniable as the laws of Newton and the law of Archimedes", Yury Grigoriev read the oath.

For the 18-year history of the Olympiad, Russia for the first time received the right to hold it. President of the Olympiad Prof. Leong Chuan Kwek expressed his gratitude to the government of Russia and Yakutia at the opening ceremony. "There would be no Olympiad without your big support”, he said. - Teams of different countries have arrived In Yakutia. However, remember that the most important thing is not the victory, but the friendship that you will find here", he added, referring to the participants of the Olympiad.

All week until May 9, the teams will compete in intellectual competitions in the specially equipped for the Olympiad “Triumph” sports complex. Some of the guests were accommodated on the territory of NEFU hotel complex and health-care institution "Smena", which is the co-organizer of the intellectual competition. According to its results, the best participants will receive vouchers for the International Olympiad in Physics, which will be held in Indonesia in the summer of 2017.