The nomination process should be open to all, allowing the consideration
of young people nominated by schools, teachers, parents, self-nominations,
and others.
The selection process should celebrate and recognize the talent and interest
of everyone who participates. We are not trying to create losers, who could
feel excluded or untalented, and may decide that physics is not for them.
Males and females must be selected for international recognition in equal
numbers by all participating countries.
Selected young people should be in the age range between 10 and 18, inclusive.
Countries may choose to focus on a narrower age range within these limits.
Sub-ranges of 10-12, 13-15, and 16-18 may be used, with talented young people
(boys and girls in equal numbers) selected in each subrange. Full-time college
or university students are not eligible: the talent search is focused on
identifying young people before they become full-time students at a university/college.
(A student taking some university-level courses while enrolled full time
in high school, gymnasium or the country's equivalent would be eligible.)
Selection criteria require interested students to do several of a large
set of possible activities. In such a selection process, all students completing
the requisite number of different activities would be identified as physics
talents in the country, receiving a national certificate and any other awards
arranged by the National Committee. This process would be like earning a
merit-badge or collecting visas on a passport. The International Committee
discourages the use of an examination or test, leading to the selection
of the highest scorers. Activities that result in the participants learning
something through their participation are preferred more than activities
that have the participants regurgitate what they know.
The National Committee must establish a time limit for the young people
to perform the activities. The recommended time limit is 6 months (minimum
is 4 months and maximum is 9 months). It is recommended that national committees
conduct the talent search between specific dates (such as 1 January 2005
to 30 June 2005).
Every participating country will submit for international recognition
the names of at least one male and one female student in each age category
the country chooses to use. Countries with a large population and many students
participating in the Talent Search are allowed to nominate additional students
for international recognition. Up to one additional pair (girl and boy)
of students may be submitted for international recognition in each age category
for each 5 million persons in the country's population. However, no more
than 20 girls and 20 boys may be submitted in each age category from any
country. Remember the same number of girls and boys must be submitted in
each age category. Countries may submit one number of students in one age
category and a different number in a different age category. For international
recognition, the names of the identified young people must be submitted
by their National Committees to the International Committee not later than
15 September 2005.
National Committees are encouraged to create a web page to publicize the
Talent Search and to put the contributions and achievements of participating
students on display. National Committees are also encouraged to use newspapers,
radio, teachers, schools, science museums, and the national physical society
to publicize the Talent Search, the participants, and the students submitted
for international recognition.
National Committees will set the menu of tasks students may perform to
earn points. Tasks are assigned a different number of points, depending
on how difficult or time-consuming they are. Students will be required to
perform a sufficient number of these tasks to accumulate at least 10 points
from at least three categories for National Recognition, as "[Country
Name] WYP 2005 Physics Talent." To be eligible to be
submitted for International Recognition, students must perform activities
in at least four categories, and accumulate at least as many points as their
age in years. Any student achieving this level will receive a certificate
identifying him/her for "International Honorable Mention
in the WYP 2005 Physics Talent Search." Among this group,
National Committees will select specific male and female students (see #7,
above) to be submitted for International Recognition as "International
WYP 2005 Physics Young Ambassadors."
National Committees will prepare and publicize the list of tasks or activities
participating students must or choose among and perform. The International
Committee recommends that National Committees include the following types
of tasks and point structure. National Committees are free to add additional
types of activities (see category i), and to delete or modify activities
if necessary to make the Talent Search more meaningful in their countries.
Students can do as many tasks as they like, earning as many points as
they like. The limits on the number of points from each category only
apply to the points, required for international honorable mention and
eligibility. Students who choose to acquire more than 15 points may do
different tasks in different categories or multiple tasks in one category.
To earn multiple points in one category, the tasks MUST be distinctly
different from each other in content (e.g. two experiments or two essays
must be on entirely different topics, not just slight variations of each
other). The National Committee is the sole judge of the acceptability
of tasks and the earning of points. Written work will be accepted if it
is in an official language of the country or in English.
The menu of categories,
activities, and points
National Committees will need to specify what evidence must be included
in the nomination to prove that tasks were completed. It is recommended
that the National Committee request copies or originals of stories, poems,
articles, photos, essays, write-ups, posters, etc be submitted for use/display
by the National Committee. National Committes are the sole judge of the
adequacy of the tasks and the earning of points.
National Committees will need to specify how they will select the young
people whose names will be forwarded for international recognition from
among those who qualify. To be eligible for international recognition,
students must complete at least as many points worth of activities as
their age in years, in at least four categories. [For example, 13-year-old
boy or girl would need to earn 13 or more points from four categories;
an 18-year-old would need to earn 18 or more points from four categories.]
If many students participate and earn the required number of points, one
criterion the National Committee should use to select those few girls
and boys (in equal numbers) designated to become "International WYP2005
Physics Young Ambassadors" is the total number of points earned and
the total number of categories they were earned in.