SWABI, Dec 28: A week-long training and testing camp of the 10th National Physics Talent Contest (NPTC) began at the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology on Wednesday.

The camp is sponsored by the Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics Careers Project of the Higher Education Commission and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission.

Fourteen students selected by a rigorous screening procedure from a nationwide competition, are participating in the training camp. The top five NPTC winners are sent to International Physics Olympiad (IPhO). The rector of the GIK Institute Dr Abdullah Sadiq, who is the chairman of the STEM Career Project, said that participants would be short-listed for the next camp which would be held in April 2006.

The final camp would be arranged in June 2006, he said, adding that the five students selected in the final camp would be flown to Singapore to represent Pakistan in the 37th IPhO to be held in the Lion City (Singapore) from July 8-17.

The training coordinator Dr Ibrahim Qazi said he was being assisted by the former NPTC/IPhO alumni.