Qualified for the German Physics Championship

On 17 January, six young physics talents from grammar schools in northern Bavaria qualified for the German Physics Championship in March during the regional round of the German Young Physicists’ Tournament (GYPT) at the University of Bayreuth.

By Theresa Hübner, Photos: Simeon Völkel · 19.01.2026

From left: Professor Walter Zimmermann (competition director) and the pupils who qualified for the German Physics Championship: Luan Janal, Alan Stranjak, Elisa Schöps, Magnus Bieswanger, Elias Beinhölzel and Benjamin Graf.

On 17 January 2026, six pupils from Upper Franconia, Middle Franconia and the Upper Palatinate achieved outstanding results with their research projects at the regional GYPT competition held at the TAO Student Research Centre of the University of Bayreuth, securing their place in the German Physics Championship. The national finals will take place in March at the Physics Centre of the German Physical Society in Bad Honnef, a venue typically hosting conferences of leading researchers.

GYPT is a team competition in which each participant contributes an independent research project to their team. Team “np.nan”—Benjamin Graf (Hochfranken-Gymnasium Naila), Jonathan Spingler (Reichsstadt-Gymnasium Rothenburg ob der Tauber) and Alan Stranjak (Emil-von-Behring-Gymnasium Spardorf)—won the gold medal. Team “xkcd”—Magnus Bieswanger (Gymnasium Pegnitz), Luan Janal and Jelisaweta Kurnosova (both Graf-Münster-Gymnasium Bayreuth)—received silver, and the bronze medal went to Elias Beinhölzel and Leon Daucher (both Carl-Friederich-Gauß-Gymnasium Schwandorf). “Some of the participants once again have the potential to reach the national top level,” said long-standing competition director Professor Walter Zimmermann, Wilhelm and Else Heraeus Senior Professor for Theoretical Physics at the University of Bayreuth.

From August each year, GYPT participants select one of 17 challenging physics problems announced internationally in English for the Physics World Cup, the IYPT (International Young Physicists’ Tournament). Approaches to experimental and theoretical investigations are not prescribed; the pupils develop them independently. Their strategies vary widely—much like in professional research. The students present their independently obtained measurements and explanations in a 12‑minute English-language presentation during the competition. A member of an opposing team then critically discusses their results for a further 12 minutes in English. A high‑calibre jury also scrutinises the findings and discussion, offering feedback and advice at the end of each round. The jury additionally evaluates the presentations and discussions and selects participants for the German Physics Championship.

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This year’s regional jury consisted of former IYPT participants, runners-up, and even a member of the 2019 World Champion team from Singapore—now a Master’s student in Würzburg. “For many jury members, the regional competition also served as an alumni reunion,” said Prof. Zimmermann. Three experienced teachers from Lower Bavaria also joined the jury to learn from Bayreuth’s experience for a planned regional GYPT competition in their region. Bayreuth is the only student research centre in Germany to have provided at least one member to the five‑person national world championship team every year since 2014.

Investigation of a Ring Fountain Impresses

Benjamin Graf’s research was particularly impressive. He investigated water fountains produced when a metal disc with a central hole strikes a water surface horizontally. As the ring makes impact, water is ejected upwards around the outer edge, while a vertical jet forms in the centre. Graf developed an ingenious setup to ensure the ring hit the surface horizontally in a reproducible manner: using a 3D printer, he built a frame with an electrically switchable magnet that releases the ring above the liquid. The ring slides down a guiding rod, ensuring a flat impact. He filmed the resulting complex water motion at 1,800 frames per second and then analysed the data according to fundamental fluid dynamics, providing a highly convincing and coherent explanation.

The TAO Student Research Centre at the University of Bayreuth (SFZB), which hosts the regional GYPT centre, has for several years made it its mission to identify young talents early—working closely with schools and teachers—and to inspire them for scientific research. Within the Technology Alliance of Upper Franconia (TAO), the Universities of Bamberg and Bayreuth and the Universities of Applied Sciences in Coburg and Hof collaborate. At the TAO-SFZB, talented pupils are also mentored by former successful GYPT participants and current physics students Tarek Becic, Berin Becic, Niklas Brütting, Sebastian Friedl (computer science student) and Frederik Gareis. This early talent promotion is supported by the German Physical Society and the Wilhelm and Else Heraeus Foundation.

“The enthusiastic pupils learn independent research and teamwork through the competition, but they also gain experience and self-confidence in discussing and presenting in English. They train problem‑solving with ingenuity and perseverance and, in doing so, develop their personalities enormously. Our country needs many such confident problem‑solvers, because with problem descriptions or protests alone we will not manage our future—nor especially that of young people,” says Zimmermann.

Prof. Dr. Walter ZimmermannWilhelm und Else Heraeus-Seniorprofessur Theoretical Physics

Phone: +49 (0) 921 / 55-3183
E-mail: walter.zimmermann@uni-bayreuth.de
www.zimmermann.physik.uni-bayreuth.de