Rules and prizes

Rules

• The Balkan Physics Olympiad (BPO) is organized once a year, either at the end of the school year (June-July) or at the beginning of the next school year (September-October). The exact date is proposed by the organizing country, which must take into account the calendar of other international competitions.
• The BPO can only be held in one of the BPU member countries, and only pupils from the member countries can officially participate in the contest. Participation can also be online, but on-site participation is highly encouraged.
• The member countries of BPU are: Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Greece, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Turkey. At the end of each competition, the host country for the next edition is proposed based on the principle of organization by rotation by the member countries.
• In order to ensure optimal conditions for the event, the host country will propose the venue, as well as a possible participation fee that strictly has to cover the costs of the organization. The BPU Executive Committee will approve the fee and, depending on the available financial resources, will be able to apply a policy of total or partial coverage of participation fees for member countries that request it.
• The host country may also invite other pupils as unofficial participants. If the respective students represent a certain guest country, they must be accepted by all BPU member countries.

• Pupils who are participating in the BPO 2025 must be middle school or high school pupils, born after 1.1.2008, or with a maximum of 3 months before this date, if they are part of the same year of study as the students accepted according to the above-mentioned age limit.
• Each country can propose up to four problems and they should be e-mailed to the Chairman of the Scientific Committee. The proposed problems should include their solutions.
• The official language of the BPO is English. The team leaders (or additional translators) of each country will be aiding with the translation of the questions in the official language of the country. Participant pupils will solve the problems in the official language of their country.

Prizes

The following prizes (medals) will be awarded:

• Gold medals (best 10% of the participants from the member states)
• Silver medals (next 15% of the participants from the member states)
• Bronze medals (next 25 % of the participants from the member states)
• Honorable Mention (the next 17 % of the participants from the member states)
  

The participants from the guest countries will receive supplementary prizes (medals), according to the total number of points they obtain and the cut-offs established for the medals, taking into account only the students from the member countries.

A certificate of Special Prize shall also be awarded to each pupil who has obtained full marks on at least one problem.

A Certificate of Participation shall be given to all contestants.

Note: The medals, certificates and other prizes will be announced at the official Award Ceremony. Effectively, they will be given by the Organizing Committee to the winners who are present at the ceremony or will be sent to the team leaders from each country by mail.