Until April 6, the Institute of Mathematics, Statistics and Scientific Computing of the State University of Campinas (Imecc-Unicamp) will receive applications for the 39th edition of the Unicamp Mathematics Olympiad (OMU). Last year, the event was attended by 6,000 students from 24 states, in addition to the Federal District.
OMU is aimed at young students in elementary (8th and 9th grades) and high school from public and private schools throughout Brazil. Participation will take place through the formation of teams composed of three students and a responsible mathematics teacher. Group members can be from different grades, but must be in the same grade and belong to the same school.
Evidences
The tests are divided into three phases: the first two take place virtually and the last takes place in person at Unicamp. The exams have essay questions, with calculations and a description of the reasoning used.
The first phase of the OMU will take place from April 18 to 24 and the second from May 23 to 29. The third phase, from which the medalist groups will emerge, will be held in person at Unicamp, on September 2nd.
During the last stage, high school students will be able to take an individual, optional test, which will award those who stand out the most with the possibility of applying for places in Unicamp’s undergraduate courses without taking the entrance exam. The notice will be published in the second half of this year.
Registrations
Registration and enrollment can be done by internet, by one of the students, by the teacher or by another school employee, by completing the team’s registration form. Prices vary according to the type of school. Students from public schools, whose families are beneficiaries of the Bolsa Família Program, must request, until April 1st, the exemption of the registration fee. For teams from public schools, the registration fee is R$50, while for private schools, the fee is R$150 per team.
award
At each level, fundamental and medium, gold, silver and bronze medals will be awarded to the best placed teams and there will be an award based on the quality of the essays. The best placed in the high school individual test will also receive medals. The three best performing public school teachers, based on the sum of their teams’ scores, will receive certificates and book prizes.
According to Imecc professor Marcelo Firer, a member of the OMU organizing committee, the proposal is for participants to answer the questions with arguments, justify the steps and expose their reasoning.
“The format of the test also makes room for something fundamental for a mathematician, which is to formulate and solve problems. Therefore, each phase lasts a week for the groups to discuss, research, rely on bibliographical references to arrive at the answers” .
For more information about the Olympics access the site.
*Intern under the supervision of Akemi Nitahara.
