Denormalisation Group, a team of undergraduate students from IISc, secured the sixth place at PLANCKS 2025, a prestigious international theoretical physics competition held in Barcelona, Spain, from 1–5 May 2025. This marks the highest-ever ranking achieved by an Indian team at PLANCKS so far.
The team, consisting of Simar Narula, Ritabrata Ghosh, Susmit Roy (second year undergraduates) and Avik Das (first year undergraduate), got this opportunity to represent India on the global stage by standing first in the national prelims, the Indian Young Physicist’s League (IYPL).
PLANCKS (Physics League Across Numerous Countries for Kick-ass Students) 2025 was organised by the student group of the Royal Spanish Society of Physics (Grupo de Estudiantes de la Real Sociedad Española de Física) under the aegis of the International Association of Physics Students (IAPS).
The programme opened with a keynote lecture by Nobel Laureate Prof Anne L’Huillier (Lund University) and included a scientific talk on gravitational wave detection by Prof Alicia Sintes (Universitat de les Illes Balears). Entrepreneurial insights were presented by Dr Barbara Buades (CEO and Co-founder of Meetoptics, active in Women in Optics) and representatives from Photon Delta. Participants also visited two leading scientific facilities, the ALBA Synchrotron and the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO), where they engaged with cutting-edge research in accelerator and photonic technologies.
The IISc team’s participation was generously supported by the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs (ODAA). Their outstanding performance is a testament to the academic calibre and global outlook of IISc’s undergraduate community.
