Northeastern University, Boston, MA
Dana Research Center 114

Febuary 21st 2026

This event is for any undergraduate or masters student that is registered at a college or university in the USA. They must be doing a physics (or physics related) programme. The team is comprised of 3 to 4 students.

PLANCKS “Physics League Across Numerous Countries for Kick-Ass Students” PLANCKS is an annual international theoretical physics competition that brings together students from around the world for a programme of social, cultural, and educational events.

The competition consists series of physics problems, covering a wide variety of topics in physics and requiring varying degrees of previous knowledge.

This page is for info on the USA Preliminaries, hosted by Northeastern University.

Info on the exam regulations and past papers can be found here: https://plancks.uk/about/exam/

It is a 4 hour team based exam covering all aspects of physics. Questions are written as self contained, with specialist knowledge of the related field being in the question.

As it’s 4 hours long, we encourage people to bring snacks, share questions & work together within the team and have fun.

This USA Preliminary is being hosted by Northeastern University and supported by the NU College of Science.

PLANCKS is an international event run by the International Association of Physics Students {IAPS}

The website is managed by the UK Institute of Physics (IOP) and the UK&IRE PLANCKS Advisory Board (PAB), who have staff within the Northeastern Global Network.

More information can be found on this FAQ page:
PLANCKSUK&IRE FAQ

or by contacting the organisers: j.kneller@northeastern.edu