Introducing the team selected to represent Australia at the 2026 International Physics Olympiad!
Congratulations to the team of students selected to represent Australia at the 2026 International Physics Olympiad.
The following exceptional students have been chosen for the team:
- Aditya Chauhan – Sydney Technical High School, NSW
- Luke Hackett – Marist College Canberra, ACT
- Yifan ‘Evan’ Liao – James Ruse Agricultural High School, NSW
- Michael Tikhanov – John Monash Science School, VIC
- Owen Zhai – Brisbane State High School, QLD
Unfortunately the Australian team will not be travelling to Colombia, and no virtual alternative option is available. We congratulate the students selected and are pleased they were able to travel to South Korea and compete in the Asian Physics Olympiad in May this year.
The team was honoured at the Australian Olympiad Teams Announcement at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra on 22 June 2026.
Their journey started by sitting the nation-wide Australian Science Olympiad (ASO) Exam in July 2025 before being selected to attend ASO Summer School in January 2026, onsite at the Australian National University.
From here, eight students were selected for the team who represented Australia in the 2026 Asian Physics Olympiad. The final five selected students have outperformed thousands of other students in qualifying exams and intensive training to earn their place on the IPhO 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.
Congratulations to all the ASO Physics students for your hard work in the exams last year and those selected for Summer School earlier this year. Thank you to all the teachers, schools, families and networks for supporting such remarkable young people.
The students have been supported by their teachers and schools, along with their families and friends, to reach the prestigious achievement of being selected to represent Australia.
Good luck to the team in all your future endeavours!
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’.
‘My school teachers were particularly encouraging for me to challenge myself in the scientific field, they would always provide me with difficult problems and extended content, which really sparked my interest in physics.’ It was this encouragement that drove him to take the Australian Physics Olympiad exam in the first place, ‘I will be forever grateful for the opportunities I’ve been granted thanks to their encouragement.’
Outside of Olympiads, he enjoys astronomy, in particular astrophotography, and playing the piano.
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.’ His teachers encouraged him to explore science, giving opportunities to inquire and work through answers.
‘If I am having any issues in a project or experiment or especially in the lab I just try to think about what the best way to still get results is. If I get a section completely wrong, I try to look at what sections I can still do, and what results I can still get.’
In his spare time Luke enjoys playing football, as well as golf, especially on the weekends with his friends.
Yifan ‘Evan’ Liao
James Ruse Agricultural High School, NSW
Evan initially studied physics because his school offered it and he then realised that ‘physics is a really fun subject’. He loved the hands-on practical component of ASO Summer School, especially the opportunity to work in university laboratories.
Evan’s advice when dealing with a challenge is, ‘Never give up! Even when it seems hopeless, keep trying and see if you can salvage the experiment. At the very least, try to learn something new for next time.’ This approach saw him awarded a silver medal at the 2026 Asian Physics Olympiad.
Outside of science, Evan enjoys programming, table tennis, tennis, archery and occasional piano playing.
Michael Tikhanov
John Monash Science School, VIC
Physics is Michael’s favourite discipline of science. ‘I really enjoy the process of understanding phenomena by understanding what is involved and then going through the mathematical derivation to ascertain how the phenomena behave.’
Through Michael’s science-focused high school and the ASO Summer School, he gained a strong grasp of all the fundamentals of physics which he applied at the 2026 Asian Physics Olympiad to secure a silver medal.
In his spare time, Michael enjoys playing piano, in particular late classical and romantic era music form Beethoven and Tchaikovsky.
Owen Zhai
Brisbane State High School, QLD
Owen represented Australia at the 2024 International Junior Science Olympiad, where he earned a gold medal, and the 2025 Asian Physics Olympiad and 2025 International Physics Olympiad, being awarded silver at both. He recently returned from the 2026 Asian Physics Olympiad with a silver medal.
He loves physics ‘because it’s cool how you can derive some pretty amazing results from such fundamental principles and some simplifying assumptions’. Owen hopes to pursue condensed matter physics in the future, as he is drawn to the creativity and problem‑solving it demands.
Outside the lab, he’s a devoted karaoke regular, never missing a chance to belt out Mr Brightside!
Australian Science Olympiads (ASO) programs are run by Australian Science Innovations, a registered not-for-profit proudly delivering science extension programs for over 35 years. Each year we select and support the teams representing Australia at the International Science Olympiads.
The ASO program is supported by our Major Funder, the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, and our University Partner, the Australian National University. We also thank Citadel Securities for their support as Major Partner.
Learn more about Australian Science Olympiads program here.
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