In a first for the campus, UC Santa Barbara is hosting the U.S. Physics Team as it prepares for the 2023 International Physics Olympiad in Tokyo.

Team director Tengiz Bibilashvili, a senior lecturer in UCSB’s Department of Physics, is prepping his team of five high school students with a summer minicamp on campus before their departure to Japan. The event includes labs and a number of lectures. The incoming physics department chair, David Stuart, has organized events for the team, including meeting with Professor Lars Bildsten, director of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, and Nobel Laureate David Gross.