Trinity students excel in international physics competition

Trinity students Ziyou Lu, McVey Srirajan and Milosz Matraszek, and Churchill student Ben Radick came first out of 46 teams in the final of PLANCKS 2025, the international physics competition.

Their team, The Diet Coke Annihilators, achieved a 20% higher score than their nearest rivals in the competition, which features a four-hour exam of collaborative problem solving.

Inspired by the German physicist Max Planck and organised annually by the International Association of Physics Students, PLANCKS seeks to promote excellence in theoretical physics and foster cross-cultural academic exchange.

This year’s final, held at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in early May, was attended by nearly 200 students from 29 countries. Participants could join visits to Catalan scientific centres, round tables with leading physicists and a conference with Anne L’Huillier, winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics.

The Diet Coke Annihilators’ name and logo is a reference to Trinity Fellow in Physics Zoran Hadzibabic’s liking of the drink and the symbol for a mathematical function with applications in quantum mechanics.

The team was one of three from the UK and Ireland qualifying for the PLANCKS final in Barcelona.

The other Cambridge team, Faithful Representations, comprising Trinity students Blaise Mo, Jonathan Yan, Jiakai Chen and Lucy Cavendish student Bryant Li, came tenth in the competition.

Trinity Fellows in Physics Professors Claudio Castelnovo, Malte Grosche and Zoran Hadzibabic applauded both teams.

Professor Castelnovo said:

The Diet Coke Annihilators’ victory is a testament to their exceptional problem-solving skills, teamwork, and preparation.

Their impressive lead over other teams reflects not only their individual brilliance, but, most importantly, their teamwork and the strength of the academic environment in which they trained.

Ziyou said the experience was a great getaway after exams.

Spending a week in Spain, enjoying the weather and the food, was a refreshing change of pace. It was lovely meeting physicists from all over the world, including some familiar faces.

The competition itself was a lot of fun – it reminded me of Physics Olympiad-style problems I used to do before university. It was also a welcome break from the kinds of questions we’ve been tackling throughout our undergraduate studies.

PLANCKS is the acronym of ‘Physics League Across Numerous Countries for Kick-ass Students’.