Australian Science Innovations is proud to announce the results of the Australian team that competed in the 2026 Asian Physics Olympiad (APhO) in Busan, Republic of Korea from 17 to 25 May.

Congratulations to our team on your great results.

Yifan ‘Evan’ Liao	James Ruse Agricultural High School, NSW	Silver
Michael Tikhanov	John Monash Science School, VIC	Silver
Owen Zhai	Brisbane State High School, QLD	Silver
Aditya Chauhan	Sydney Technical High School, NSW	Honourable Mention
Luke Hackett	Marist College Canberra, ACT	Honourable Mention

We are proud of the awesome effort by…

• Isaac Chan | Queensland Academy for Science, Mathematics & Technology, QLD
• Wanxin Alice Mao | Pymble Ladies’ College, NSW
• Zhewei Vivian Zhang | Pymble Ladies’ College, NSW

Whilst at the Olympiad, the team experienced the culture, food, history, sights, and met the people, of Busan. The second-largest city in the Republic of Korea (commonly known as South Korea), Busan is a ‘vibrant coastal metropolis where the ocean, urban energy, and cultural heritage come together’.

The team had some great experiences to balance out the hard work of the theoretical and experimental exams of the Physics Olympiad. The excursions arranged by the host country included the Busan National Science Museum, Ahopsan Forest, Centum City, BEXCO Exhibition Hall and Busan Cinema Center, Haeundae Beach, APEC House, UNIST, Tongdosa Temple and Haedong Yonggung Temple. Find more information about these excursions in the daily newsletters provided by the host.

Thank you to the hosts, Korean Physical Society, for delivering a successful event and for sharing photos and news from the 2026 APhO, featured here along with photos supplied by the Australian team.

The team have gained immense knowledge and skills during the last year, under the guidance of Program Director, Lachlan McGinness, and Co-Deputy Program Directors, Austin Lin and Sam Maloney, along with a team of physics enthusiasts. Thank you to former Deputy Program Director, Maggie Webber, for her amazing contributions over the years.

We would like to thank everyone who helped the team achieve this great result. Thank you to…

• The program directors, tutors, volunteers and team behind the scenes.
• The science teachers and schools who supported the team
• All the families and friends for supporting such remarkable young people
• The 2026 APhO team who have worked hard and achieved so much

Introducing the 2026 APhO Australian Team

Isaac Chan | Queensland Academy for Science, Mathematics & Technology, QLD

Isaac is looking forward to meeting new people from a diverse range of participating countries at this year’s Asian Physics Olympiad in South Korea.

Aditya Chauhan | Sydney Technical High School, NSW

Aditya has always loved physics as it ‘combines both difficult mathematics and logical reasoning to produce models that help us understand the mysterious universe we live in’. He is excited to see what interesting and new problems the Asian Physics Olympiad has to offer and have fun tackling them.

Luke Hackett | Marist College Canberra, ACT

Luke loves physics as it presents with an opportunity to work things out for yourself. Whilst you may be taught a rudimentary formula, it is up to you to find out how to apply it to the problem at hand. He is excited to be immersed in new cultures and experiences overseas.

Yifan ‘Evan’ Liao | James Ruse Agricultural High School, NSW

Evan loved the hand-on practical component of ASO Summer School, especially being in university laboratories. He is particularly excited to meet new people and explore the sights of South Korea.

Wanxin Alice Mao | Pymble Ladies’ College, NSW

Alice is particularly excited to see the international campuses and faculties at the Asian Physics Olympiad and to learn about their approaches to science. Alice loves seeing how mathematical concepts translate into solving complex and real-world problems.

Michael Tikhanov | John Monash Science School, VIC

The ASO Summer School gave Michael a stronger grasp of all the fundamentals of physics, which he can now apply to a wide range of situations. ‘I look forward to continuing to expand my worldview by challenging any preconceptions I may have and, in the process, meet people with the same passion for physics that I have.’

Owen Zhai | Brisbane State High School, QLD

Owen loves physics ‘because it’s cool how you can derive some pretty amazing results from such fundamental principles and some simplifying assumptions’. He particularly loves the theory of relativity, as it demonstrates how collaboration can really make a scientific discovery better.

Zhewei Vivian Zhang | Pymble Ladies’ College, NSW

Vivian has great admiration for female scientists Marie Curie, Rosalind Franklin and Chien-Shiung Wu (to name a few) who overcame gender barriers and made important contributions in fields in which women have been historically underrepresented.

We wish them all the best in the future and hope to see more of these young scientists!