About Us

NCEA level 3 and equivalent qualifications open the door to so many STEM careers that they are vital to our national success.

which is why the New Zealand Young Physicists’ Trust registered as charity CC62496 in July 2024. with this mission.

A four tier pyramid diagram showing the Trust's purpose. Reading down tier 1 = WHAT? "Enriching high school physics" tier 2 = WHY? "As a gateway discipline to STEM careers and tertiary studies" tier 3 = WHERE? "In extra-curricula ‘clubs’ that add career skills to classroom theory" tier 4 = HOW? "Through competitions requiring problem solving and experimentation"

The Trust formed from the group of dedicated, volunteer teachers who took an NZ Representative Team to the International Young Physicists’ Tournament for over twenty years. You can read about our history here

Today the Tournament remains our flagship tournament programme and also provides a framework for much more.

  • Reinforcement of practical experimentation for NCEA level 3 NZQA standard 91521 Carry out a practical investigation to test a physics theory relating two variables in a non-linear relationship
  • Providing support for extra-curricula school ‘clubs” that provide a safe place to get hands-on with science and experiment.
  • Learning non-academic skills such as real-time problem solving, mathematical modeling, presenting and defending research data and teamwork.
  • Teacher training and mentoring

For students aspiring to represent New Zealand at IYPT we recommend a two year participation. In the first they learn about the Tournament by taking part. In they apply that knowledge to improve their research and results.

a process flow showing the two year cycle of participation in the Tournament for students aspiring to be in the NZ rep team 1. in year12 - school team participation followed by the end of year workshop 2. in the summer holiday, experiment and prepare a rep team entry video of one problem 3. year 13 enter video into selection process in February and also take part in the school team

Our current activities

in addition to running the 2026 Tournament we are

  1. Piloting new activities in our “home” territory of Auckland with the intention of moving out to other regions.
  2. Working with individual schools to broaden participation in both physics clubs and the Trournament.
  3. Hosting the 2027 International Tournament in NZ.