Five JEE toppers in physics olympiad team

The all-India number two and the country’s girl topper at the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) have been selected as a part of a team for the International Physics Olympiad.

The all-India number two and the country’s girl topper at the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) have been selected as a part of a team for the International Physics Olympiad.

The team of five Class 12 students – four boys and one girl – includes Bijoy Singh Kochar (rank two), Jeevana Priya Inala (rank 21 and girl topper), Kunal Singhal (rank 18), Rahul Trivedi (rank 42) and Pulkit Tandon (rank 58).

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The JEE results, which determine admission to the Indian Institutes of Technology, were announced last week.

The Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE) in Mankhurd announced the team on Wednesday. The International Physics Olympiad will be

conducted between July 15 and 24 in Estonia.

“These are among the brightest students in the world and we hope to do very well this year,” said Vijay Singh, national coordinator of the science Olympiads and a professor at HBCSE. “Since 70% of the JEE and Olympiad syllabus is the same, these students are well prepared.”

In 2011 and 2010, India stood sixth overall, while in 2009 and 2008 the country was third.

“I got interested in the olympiads through the junior olympiads first,” said Inala. “Being one of the few girls to be selected has never been a deterrent. I took it as a challenge.”

This year, 43,000 students appeared for the preliminary selection of the physics olympiad. Of these, 307 were selected for a second level exam, following which 41 were called for a two-week training camp in May.

A team of four students was selected for the chemistry olympiad on May 2, which included one Mumbai student.