TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - On Friday, Feb. 7, high school juniors and seniors from Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee will converge on The University of Alabama for the 27th Annual Alabama High School Physics Contest.

The top awards are two, four-year scholarships (in-state tuition) to the University. The scholarships will be awarded to the two highest-ranking participants who choose to attend UA, said Dr. Pieter Visscher, professor of physics.

The contest is designed to recognize students who study physical science and encourage students to further their interests in science. Last year 250 students competed for the top prizes.

Students start the competition with an individual written test, followed by teams of four that compete in a high-speed ciphering exam. While students are taking the written test, there will be a program for teachers that will demonstrate the new studio physics classroom. UA’s physics department has recently switched its introductory physics classes from a lecture format to a “studio physics” format.

In the afternoon, students and teachers will tour Gallalee Hall, the physics building, where they will see the laboratories where neutrino detectors are being developed for planned large-scale experiments in Japan, Arizona and Antarctica; a computer-interfacing laboratory classroom; the infrared laser lab; computer-visualization facilities for astronomy; and nanometer-scale magnetic recording processes.

For more information, contact the department of physics and astronomy 205/348-5051.

The College of Arts and Sciences is UA’s largest division and the largest public liberal arts college in the state, with approximately 5,000 undergraduate and 1,000 graduate students. The College has received national recognition for academic excellence, and A&S students have been selected for many of the nation’s top academic honors, including 15 Rhodes Scholarships, 13 Goldwater Scholarships, seven Truman Scholarships and 11 memberships on USA Today’s Academic All-American teams.