Israeli teens nab top prizes in international physics competition

Eight Israeli high school students from the Ilan Ramon Youth Physics Center at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have earned the top prizes in the international competition First Step to Nobel Prize in Physics.

Some 80 nations participate in the annual competition, which is held in Warsaw. Competitors are asked to submit their research to the Polish Academy of Sciences' Institute of Physics, where a panel of internationally renowned judges evaluates it.

The first-prize winners are awarded a month-long research trip to Poland, a chance to make a presentation to leading physicists, and a certificate of merit. But the biggest coup is having their research published in an international physics journal.

Two of the eight Israeli winners from the Ilan Ramon Youth Physics Center took the first prize: Idan Fishman and Basel Abu Ganem, both of whom attended the same high school in Beersheba. Fishman's research is titled "Water crystallization kinetics in porous media: treatment of the experimental results," and Abu Ganem's is "Instability of the phase front in freezing porous media."

Five of the Israeli students were awarded second-place prizes, and one garnered a third-place prize.

"This is an impressive achievement that puts Beersheba at the forefront of international physics," said Beersheba Mayor Ruvik Danilovich.

"Without a doubt, the decision to invest in advanced academic education and providing opportunities in this field as part of a long-term strategy are proving themselves," Danilovich said.

The Ilan Ramon Youth Physics Center at Ben-Gurion University is a regional center operated jointly by the Rashi Foundation, the city of Beersheba, and the Education Ministry. It provides students with access to laboratories, some of the most advanced astronomic equipment in Israel, and high-level mentoring.

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