IISc students crack top 6 at global physics showdown, India’s highest ranking yet

A team of undergraduate students from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, ranked sixth place in the 12th edition of Physics League Across Numerous Countries for Kick-ass Students (PLANCKS) 2025. This marks the highest ranking ever achieved by an Indian team.

The 4-hour closed-book test, which took place at Barcelona, Spain, last month, is the most difficult theoretical physics competition for undergraduate students. Hosted by the Royal Spanish Society of Physics and co-organized with the International Association of Physics Students (IAPS), PLANCKS 2025 assessed participants' problem-solving ability, creativity, and profundity in different areas of physics.

One of the problems was the question regarding the birth time of the universe.

"Initially they provided the field equations, matter densities, dark matter information, cosmological constant (and so forth) and then they posed lots of questions such as when did the universe begin," stated Simar Narula one of this year's awardees, along with Ritabrata Ghosh, Susmit Roy, and Avik Das.

"Those questions were not questions that you would typically expect from a competitive exam, in general. Those were concept-building questions," Ghosh said. "The aptitude that one acquires in IISc, and the kind of exposure one gets in undergraduate programs to a certain extent, developed us in such a way that we were able to solve those problems pretty fairly."

Last year also, a group of IISc students traveled to PLANCKS and bagged the seventh position. Ghosh and his team were motivated by their senior batch, and decided to appear for the national prelims.

The top three prizes were declared immediately after the competition on 5 May, and the rest of the prizes on 6 May.

The group, which was earlier doubtful about their performance, waited with bated breath, eyes glued to the screen of the Discord app. The moment the result was declared, they celebrated the triumph with their classmates and teachers. "They were all proud of this and they asked us to do more such things," Narula said.

Not just an exam

To qualify for the main event, IISc's undergraduate team of four—the Denormalisation Group—won first position in the Indian Young Physicist's League, the country-level qualifying round for the event. 

Since 2014, after the inaugural edition held in Utrecht, PLANCKS has been an event for physics students to compete, network, and, above all, to share their love for physics. This year, the event was attended by around 200 students from 29 countries, with the United Kingdom team securing first place. More than an academic contest, PLANKCS 2025 was also a physics, innovation, and international cooperation celebration. The event kicked off this year with a talk by the 2023 Nobel Laureate in Physics Anne L' L'Huillier.

Outside of these lectures, entrepreneurial advice and institute tours in Barcelona, PLANCKS is also a chance to experience another culture.

During the event, the organizers took us on a brief tour (of the city) and (they) allowed us to visit historic sites such as the Cathedral of Barcelona. Post the event, we also explored on our own to visit Montjuïc hill," Narula said, particularly excited to have visited the FC Barcelona's current home stadium.

The Denormalisation Group's success at PLANCKS 2025 is also heartening for enthusiastic students of physics all over India. As Ghosh awaits PLANCKS 2026, he remains conscious of the uncertainty in questions. "You have to think it (questions) out from scratch, and it's more about experience and (how) you keep your calm at that moment to work that out within those 4 hours," he said.

The journey of the team to PLANCKS 2025 was sponsored by the Office of Development and Alumni. Affairs (ODAA), based on IISc news.