International Mathematics Competition

The International Mathematics Competition (IMC) for University Students is an annual mathematics competition open to all undergraduate students of mathematics.[1] Participating students are expected to be at most twenty three years of age at the time of the IMC. The IMC is primarily a competition for individuals, although most participating universities select and send one or more teams of students. The working language is English.

The IMC is a residential competition and all student participants are required to stay in the accommodation provided by the organisers. It aims to provide a friendly, comfortable and secure environment for university mathematics students to enjoy mathematics with their peers from all around the world, to broaden their world perspective and to be inspired to set mathematical goals for themselves that might not have been previously imaginable or thought possible. Notably, in 2018 Caucher Birkar (born Fereydoun Derakhshani), an Iranian Kurdish mathematician, who participated in the 7th IMC[2] held at University College London in 2000, received mathematics' most prestigious award, the Fields Medal.[3][4] He is now a professor at Tsinghua University and at the University of Cambridge. In 2022 a Kyiv-born mathematician, Maryna Viazovska, was also awarded the Fields Medal.[5] She participated in the IMC as a student four times, in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005. She is now a Professor and the Chair of Number Theory at the Institute of Mathematics of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland.

Students from over 200 universities from over 50 countries have participated over the first thirty competitions. At the 29th IMC in 2022 participants were awarded Individual Result Prizes, Fair Play Prizes and Most Efficient Team Leader Prizes.[6]

University College London[7] has been involved in the organisation of the IMC and Professor John E. Jayne[8] has served as the President from the beginning in 1994. The IMC runs over five or six days during which the competitors sit two five-hour examinations, each with five questions (six until 2008) chosen by a panel and representatives from the participating universities. Problems are from the fields of Algebra, Analysis (Real and Complex), Combinatorics and Geometry.[9]

History

The IMC began in 1994 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, with 49 participants, mostly from Bulgaria, and was hosted by Plovdiv University "Paisii Hilendarski". The 2nd, 3rd and 4th IMC were also hosted by Plovdiv University "Paisii Hilendarski" in Plovdiv. From 1996 to 1999 the IMC was one of the activities of the Structural Joint European Union TEMPUS Project #S_JEP-11087-96, entitled "Modular Education in Mathematics and Informatics",[10] which was the flag ship European Union TEMPUS Project[11] in Bulgaria at the time, aimed at bringing Bulgaria's university mathematics and computing degree programs into line with those in the European Union in preparation for Bulgaria's entry into the European Union. University College London was the Contractor for this European Union TEMPUS Project and Professor Jayne was the Coordinator of the Project. In 1998 the 5th IMC was moved to Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, and was hosted by both the South-West University "Neofit Rilski" in Blagoevgrad and the American University in Bulgaria. The 5th IMC had 80 participants from 9 countries.[12]

The 6th IMC was hosted by Eötvös Loránd University and held on Lake Balaton in Keszthely, Hungary, the 7th IMC was hosted by University College London in London, the 8th IMC was hosted by Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, the 9th IMC was hosted by the University of Warsaw in Warsaw, Poland, the 10th IMC was hosted by Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, the 11th IMC was hosted by Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje in Skopje, Macedonia, the 12th IMC was hosted by American University in Bulgaria in Blagoevgrad, the 13th IMC was hosted by Odesa University in Odesa, Ukraine, the 14th IMC and 15th IMC were again hosted by the American University in Bulgaria in Blagoevgrad, and the 16th IMC was hosted by the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. In 2009 the 16th IMC had 347 student participants and 65 teams. Since 2010 the IMC has been hosted by the American University in Bulgaria, in Blagoevgrad, with assistance from the South-West University "Neofit Rilski" in Blagoevgrad.[13] The 26th IMC had 360 student participants and 77 teams.[14] The 27th and 28th IMCs were held on-line due to the global pandemic. The 29th IMC was hybrid with both in-person and on-line participants. It had 663 student participants and 100 teams.[15] The 30th IMC returned to being on only in-person event. It had 393 student participants and 72 teams.[16] The 31st IMC had 401 student participants, and 82 team leaders from 52 countries.[17]

Notable Past Award Winners

  • Caucher Birkar, Fields Medal Winner and Professor at the University of Cambridge.
  • Maryna Viazovska, Fields Medal Winner and Professor at EPFL.
  • Roman Karasev. Professor at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
  • Nima Anari, Professor at Stanford University.
  • Maryam Saeedi, Professor at Carnegie Mellon University.
  • Ali Kakhbod, Professor at the University of California, Berkeley.
  • Gabriel Kreindler, Professor at Harvard University.
  • Martin D. Kassabov, Professor at Cornell University.
  • Andrej Zlatoš, Professor at UC San Diego.
  • Marianna Csörnyei, Professor at the University of Chicago.
  • Florian Herzig, Professor at the University of Toronto.
  • Simion Filip, Professor at the University of Chicago.
  • Rasool Etesami, Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
  • Behrouz Touri, Professor at the University of California, San Diego.
  • Kaveh Kasebian, Professor at Virginia Tech.
  • Naser Talebizadeh Sardari, Professor at Penn State University.
  • Jalal Etesami, Professor at the Technical University of Munich.
  • Sam Nariman, Professor at Purdue University.
  • Gaku Liu, Professor at the University of Washington.
  • Djordje Milicevic, Professor at Bryn Mawr College.
  • Anton Mellit, Assoz. Professor at the University of Vienna.

Summary

Number
 Year
 Host City
 Host Country
 Dates
1st IMC 1994 Plovdiv  Bulgaria 28 July–2 August
2nd IMC 1995 Plovdiv  Bulgaria 2–7 August
3rd IMC 1996 Plovdiv  Bulgaria 31 July–5 August
4th IMC 1997 Plovdiv  Bulgaria 30 July–4 August
5th IMC 1998 Blagoevgrad  Bulgaria 29 July–3 August
6th IMC 1999 Keszthely  Hungary 29 July–2 August
7th IMC 2000 London  England 26–31 July
8th IMC 2001 Prague  Czech Republic 19–25 July
9th IMC 2002 Warsaw  Poland 19–25 July
10th IMC 2003 Cluj-Napoca  Romania 25–31 July
11th IMC 2004 Skopje  North Macedonia 23–29 July
12th IMC 2005 Blagoevgrad  Bulgaria 22–28 July
13th IMC 2006 Odesa  Ukraine 20–26 July
14th IMC 2007 Blagoevgrad  Bulgaria 3–9 August
15th IMC 2008 Blagoevgrad  Bulgaria 25–31 July
16th IMC 2009 Budapest  Hungary 25–30 July
17th IMC 2010 Blagoevgrad  Bulgaria 24–30 July
18th IMC 2011 Blagoevgrad  Bulgaria 28 July–3 August
19th IMC 2012 Blagoevgrad  Bulgaria 26 July–1 August
20th IMC 2013 Blagoevgrad  Bulgaria 6–12 August
21st IMC 2014 Blagoevgrad  Bulgaria 29 July–4 August
22nd IMC 2015 Blagoevgrad  Bulgaria 27 July–2 August
23rd IMC 2016 Blagoevgrad  Bulgaria 25–31 July
24th IMC 2017 Blagoevgrad  Bulgaria 31 July–6 August
25th IMC 2018 Blagoevgrad  Bulgaria 22–28 July
26th IMC 2019 Blagoevgrad  Bulgaria 28 July–3 August
27th IMC 2020 ON-LINE ON-LINE 25–30 July
28th IMC 2021 ON-LINE ON-LINE 2–7 August
29th IMC 2022 Blagoevgrad  Bulgaria 1–7 August
30th IMC 2023 Blagoevgrad  Bulgaria 31 July–6 August
31st IMC 2024 Blagoevgrad  Bulgaria 05 August–11 August
32nd IMC 2025 Blagoevgrad  Bulgaria 28 July–03 August

See also

References

  1. ^ "Welcome to the IMC2018!". imc-math.ddns.net. 28 July 2018. Archived from the original on 30 September 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  2. ^ Draganova, C. "IMC – International Mathematics Competition for University Students". ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  3. ^ "Former IMC participant among winners of Fields medal – the 'Nobel prize for maths'". The Guardian. 1 August 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  4. ^ "International Congress of Mathematicians, Fields Medalists". uicm2018.org. 2 August 2018. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  5. ^ Davis, Nicola; Sample, Ian (21 October 2022). "Fields medal: Kyiv-born professor and Oxford expert among winners". TheGuardian.com. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  6. ^ "Prizes/Closing Ceremony IMC 2022". imc-math.org.uk. 21 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  7. ^ "UCL London's Global University". ucl.ac.uk. 5 November 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  8. ^ "J E Jayne UCL Home Page". ucl.ac.uk. 20 July 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  9. ^ "Problems & Solutions IMC 2019". imc-math.org.uk. 28 July 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  10. ^ "Structural Joint European Project #S_JEP-11087-96". ucl.ac.uk. 9 January 1996. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  11. ^ "EU Tempus Programme". eacea.ec.europa.eu. 1 January 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  12. ^ "Fifth IMC 1998". imc-math.org.uk. 28 July 1998. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  13. ^ "Blagoevgrad hosts IMC". bnr.bg. 23 July 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  14. ^ "Participants and Teams IMC 2019". imc-math.org.uk. 28 July 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  15. ^ "Participants and Teams IMC 2022". imc-math.org.uk. 21 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  16. ^ "Participants and Teams IMC 2023". imc-math.org.uk. 2 October 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  17. ^ "Participants and Teams IMC 2024". imc-math.org.uk. 7 November 2024. Retrieved 7 November 2024.