Competition in optics for students: organization and realization of the practical and theoretical tours

Abstract

All-Russian competition in optics and optical engineering has been carrying out for several years. Leading Russian universities and institutes that teach in different areas of optics take part in this event. One of the main features of this event is that participants may be students of all years (except post-graduate students), and the exercises of the competition include many tasks involving different optical disciplines (applied optics, lasers, optical devices and instruments, geometric optics, etc.). One of the main requirements of the Education Ministry to such events is that the competition must include both practical and theoretical parts. Practical part usually includes several tasks, and each task is a demonstration of an optical phenomenon or an optical instrument or device and involves questions concerning the demonstrated experiment. Theoretical part is a set of tasks and questions that should be solved and answered in written form. Organization committee and judges which are the members of teaching staff of different universities prepare complex theoretical tasks and arrange a set of practical questions. Nevertheless the set of task may include simple questions which can be solved using basic knowledge of optics, observation and erudition. Thus, such competitions help to discover the most talented and motivated students which have great potential. In the report the problems of organization and carrying out of such competition in optics are discussed. Examples of tasks which were used in different years and also retrospective of the competition are presented.