The seventh international competition for research projects in physics from secondary/high school students is being organized by the Institute of Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw. All students are eligible for the competition provided their institution is not a university college and that they will not be aged over 20 on 31 March 1999.

There are no restrictions on the subjects for participants' papers, but they must be able to demonstrate research activities in physics or topics related to physics. Participants can submit more than one paper, but each must have only one author, and papers must not exceed 25 typed pages. They will be refereed by the Organizing Committee and award winners will be invited to the Polish Institute of Physics for a month's research in November 1999. Travel expenses are not included in the award, however.

Applicants wishing to take part should send two copies of their paper in English to Mrs M E Gorzkowska, Secretary of the First Step, Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, al Lotnikow 32/46, PL 02668 Warszawa, Poland. The author's name, address and date of birth, plus the name and address of their school must also be supplied. The deadline is 31 March 1999.

Futher information on the competition and on previous competitions may be obtained from Dr W Gorzkowski (fax: (48)22-8430926, e-mail: gorzk@ifpan.edu.pl) or Dr Y Surya (fax: (62)21-8211551, e-mail: yohaness@centrin.net.id). Up-to-date details can be located in the pub/competitions subdirectory of the regular anonymous file on the ftp server ftp.ifpan.edu.pl as well as at http://nobelprizes.com/firstep/.