The 14th China Undergraduate Physics Tournament (CUPT) officially concluded on August 24. In this year’s competition, 64 teams competing from nearly 300 participating universities all around the nation entered the final stage. The ShanghaiTech team was awarded a First Prize and ranked overall sixth among all the teams. This was the best performance since ShanghaiTech’s first participation in CUPT in 2019, leading to a guaranteed participation offer in the 15th CUPT.
The First Prize certificate
The ShanghaiTech team consists of 11 first-year undergraduates majoring in physics. They are Chen Congyi, Li Qiuyan, Liu Zheng, Lu Wenkai, Wan Xuanlin, Wang Qiyu, Wang Yifan, Wang Zihou, Xi Zijian, Yang Dianmeng, and Zhao Yiqun.
Group photo of the ShanghaiTech team
CUPT is composed of two parts: one report and a final debate session. Competition questions are released one year in advance. Each team is required to submit a report based on research and discussion, and to take part in a debate during the final competition stage, which was held at Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu this year. A panel of judges give comments and scores according to the performance of each team. The evaluation criteria are: depth of understanding of the question, innovative ideas, convincingness of the viewpoints, and friendly manner of each team member.
SPST started the preparation work and formed a university team for CUPT as soon as the 17 CUPT competition questions were released last year. The team members have investigated the 17 CUPT questions, and 5 of the 11 members were selected for the final debate, while the others performed the off-stage supporting work. During the competition, the ShanghaiTech team showed their solid academic knowledge and good communication skills. The team members were united and cooperated with each other, and they displayed innovative ideas during the investigation of the competition questions.
Photo of the onsite final debate
Photo of the awarding ceremony of CUPT
During the preparation, a coaching team consisting of Assistant Professors Jiang Yifan, Deng Hao, Wang Wenbo and Li Runze, and teaching staff Wang Qingyan, provided theoretical and experimental guidance, from building up the theoretical framework to fine-tuning the final report. SPST staff Wang Kangning, who is a veteran in the coordination of CUPT, and is serving as the team leader for the fifth time, organized and coordinated the students’ regular training. In addition to the support of faculty and staff, some senior students also provided their suggestions in the experiments. The hard work and dedication of these “behind-the-scenes teams” laid a solid foundation for ShanghaiTech team to achieve the excellent result in CUPT.
SPST pays significant attention to the cultivation of undergraduate students, and proactively encourages and organizes students to participate in large-scale academic exchanges and competition activities such as CUPT and “Challenge Cup” (National Extracurricular Academic Science and Technology Works Competition for College Students), so as to train students’ academic innovation ability, sharpen their hands-on ability and build their teamwork spirit.
Read more about ShanghaiTech’s participation in CUPT 2022 here.