A WHITCHURCH teenager has been selected for the team of five British students to represent the UK in the 2017 International Physics Olympiad this summer.

Robert Waddy, a sixth form student at Devonport High School for Boys, had to compete through three rounds of very tough physics papers against thousands of keen young physicists from across the country, culminating in the top 12 students taking part in a training week at Oxford University at Easter, from which the final team was selected.

The 2017 International Physics Olympiad is being held in Yogyakarta in Indonesia in July.

Robert was also in the top five students last year in the AS Physics Challenge, where he decided his ambition was to represent the country in the International Olympiad, and he has since spent thousands of hours studying physics problems to an advanced level.

Last week, Robert was presented with his award for achieving a place on the team at the Royal Society in London. He will now go through two further training camps in Oxford and Cambridge before the team travels out to Indonesia to compete against more than 400 students from nearly 100 countries.

Robert’s father Sam Waddy said: ‘The competitors have to sit a five-hour experimental exam and a five-hour theory paper in an 8x8 foot cubicle — they are supplied with food and water. They do get some relaxation time while the papers are marked though!

‘Robert is also preparing for his A-Levels in physics, chemistry, maths and further maths, before he hopes to take up his offer to study Natural Sciences at St John’s College in Cambridge.

‘It isn’t all about physics, Robert also cycles regularly with Tavistock Wheelers — and commutes to school on his bike— and you might spot him running across the local tors with the Dartmoor Runners. Robert is very keen to pass on his enthusiasm for understanding physics and as well as being his school Physics ambassador, he has created an online revision resource for GCSE astronomy students on YouTube called “astronomy2GCSE”. You don’t have to be studying to enjoy learning about the universe through these presentations!’