Cambridge Physics Team Wins International PLANCKS 2025 Final

A team of undergraduate students from the Cavendish Laboratory, the Diet Coke Annihilators—representing the UK & Ireland— has secured first place at the 2025 international final of the PLANCKS competition, held at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

The team—comprising Ziyou Lu, McVey Srirajan, Milosz Matraszek, and Ben Radick—achieved an impressive victory, finishing with a score 20% higher than that of the second-place team. Their performance in the four-hour-long physics exam, which challenges students to solve advanced problems collaboratively, was unparalleled among the 46 participating teams. Approximately 200 students from 29 countries took part in this year’s event.

The 2025 competition was held between 01 and 05 May, with the grand final taking place on Saturday 3 May at the Faculty of Science of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

Organised annually by the International Association of Physics Students (IAPS), the PLANCKS competition aims to promote excellence in theoretical physics and foster cross-cultural academic exchange. The event provides a unique platform for top physics students to engage in rigorous intellectual challenges while building connections across the global physics community.

“The Diet Coke Annihilators’ victory is a testament to their exceptional problem-solving skills, teamwork, and preparation. Their impressive lead over other teams reflects not only their individual brilliance, but, most importantly, their teamwork and the strength of the academic environment in which they trained,” said Prof. Claudio Castelnovo, Theory of Condensed Matter, Cavendish Laboratory.

Their light-hearted celebration, drinking Diet Coke on stage, at the end of the awards perfectly encapsulated the team’s camaraderie and joyful spirit.

In addition to the first-place victory, special mention goes to another team from Cavendish Laboratory, Faithful Representations, who finished 10th in the competition out of 46 teams that participated. This team, comprising Blaise Mo, Bryant Li, Jonathan Yan, and Jiakai Chen, also demonstrated remarkable physics problem-solving skills.

Congratulations to both teams on their outstanding achievements!

For further information about the PLANCKS competition, please visit the PLANCKS website.

Featured Image:

Winning team (Ziyou Lu, McVey Srirajan, Milosz Matraszek, and Ben Radick) holding their certificates, alongside the organisers. Credit: Ziyou Lu.

Second Image:

PLANCKS Award. Credit: Ziyou Lu.