Unusual among science competitions, the USIYPT aims to improve physics teaching skills as well as student understanding of the subject. High school teachers are participating members of each school's research team. The sponsoring organization chooses problems for each tournament that are "nontrivial, but not impossible," whose solutions are not necessarily unknown to practicing professional physicists, but are generally new to high school teachers and students. Research is expected to be conducted primarily in each team's school, with direction and assistance from a teacher at that school.