It’s already February and last Christmas might seem like a distant memory, but here at Physics World we’ve been rekindling that festive feeling by sorting through the entries to our physics-themed Christmas jumper competition featured in the December issue.

Thank you to everyone who entered. We were delighted at the response and really enjoyed your brilliantly creative designs. We’re pleased to present the five winning entries, the makers of which will each receive a copy of Stephen Hawking’s final book Brief Answers to the Big Questions.

Alexandre Dareau, a postdoc at the Insititut d’Optique Graduate School in France, and Samuel Rind, a PhD student at TU Wien Atominstitut in Austria, not only designed a jazzy jumper, but also wrote an accompanying festive paper. They claim to have found a “seasonal quantum Hall effect” ultimately linked to “exceedingly attractive physicists wearing measurably stylish and scientifically relevant sweaters”.

Special kudos to astronomy Master’s student Kate Blackham from Milton Keynes in the UK, who is studying part-time with Swinburn University, Australia, while working in publishing. She actually knitted her festive design referencing Jocelyn Bell Burnell, and even used space-themed yarns dubbed “Starlight”, “Cosmos” and “Starburst Cosmos”.

Mike Viola’s Higher physics class (ages 16–17) at Dumfries Academy in Scotland really got into the swing of the competition and sent in an array of impressive designs, with our favourite being Emma McDonald’s entry featuring the Grinch saying a scientific alternative to “Bah, humbug”.

Kristen Coyne, assistant director for public affairs at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in the US,  had us saying “why didn’t we think of that?!” with Santa at a less traditional north pole. And we chuckled particularly loudly at the design made by Emma Smith, a medically retired NHS staff nurse from Halifax in the UK, which referred to the Doppler effect.

Thank you again to all who took part, and congratulations to the winners.