Participate

Do you like logical thinking and do not shy away from mental challenges? Would you would like to get to know mathematics from a different perspective and meet new people with similar interests? Then you are at the right place! Every year, we at the Mathematical Olympiad organise numerous events as part of a competition with the aim of bringing together young people like you from all over Switzerland to share our passion for mathematics with you. With us, you will get to know mathematics in a completely different way than at school. The logic, elegance and joy of the subject are at the core of our attention, not memorization or tedious arithmetic.

 

 

Conditions of Participation

You can participate in the mathematical olympiad if you...

  • are born on 2 July 2004 or later.

  • are not yet studying at a regular university.

  • meet one of the following conditions:

    • You are attending a school (e.g. grammar school, cantonal school, upper secondary school, vocational school, ...) in Switzerland or Liechtenstein

    • You are attending a Swiss school abroad.

    • You are attending military school, civil service or civil defence.

  • are not participating in a foreign Mathematical Olympiad in the same year, which also serves as a selection for the International Mathematical Olympiad.

Exceptions are possible, please contact us for that in advance.

Special Needs

Do you need specific assistance for your participation due to a physical impairment, handicap or chronic illness? Contact us and we will do our best to ensure that everyone can participate fairly.

First Round

The first round of the Mathematical Olympiad will take place online during the month of September. To participate, you can register (https://firstround.mathematical.olympiad.ch/) after the 1st of September  up till the end of September and take the exam online from 1 to 30 September. You can also ask your maths teacher if you can take the exam with your whole class. The exam lasts 75 minutes and is divided into four levels with ten questions each. If you are in grade 7 to 9, you have to answer the questions in levels 1, 2 and 3. If you are in grade 10 to 13, it is the levels 2, 3 and 4 questions. If you are not sure which category you belong to, do not hesitate to contact us.

 

In the first round, you will be confronted with problems from number theory, combinatorics and geometry. The questions require almost no previous theoretical knowledge and mainly need creative and abstract thinking. You can find out more about the topics and style of the Mathematical Olympiad here. Last year's first exam can be found here. However, it is different from this year's exam and is only divided into 3 levels.

 

The first exam consists of short questions that are quite different from the long problems in the following rounds. For this reason, even if you do not qualify directly, you can take the Second Round. For this, however, you need the recommendation of a teacher who informs us via email.

Second Round

The second round consists of three preparatory meetings and a subsequent examination, which all take place simultaneously in Zurich, Lausanne and Lugano. At the meetings you will get to know the organizers and many other participants and together we will prepare for the upcoming competition. You will receive a theoretical introduction to the three topics of number theory, combinatorics and geometry as well as useful tips for the exam. We will also discuss many interesting examples and you will also get a lot of time to give the tasks a try and exchange ideas with other participants.

 

The exam of the second round will take place at the beginning of December on a Saturday. It lasts 3 hours and consists of two tasks per subject area, so there are six tasks in total. After the exam you are invited to an aperitif in front of the exam room. You will receive more details about the meeting point and time by email before the events. The exact dates for the current year can be found here.

Qualification

If you do well in the second round, there are still many great events ahead of you. The criteria for qualification are as follows:

 

  • The top 25 participants at the second round qualify for the final round.

  • The top 16  participants at the second round who are under 16 years of age on July 1 and have not qualified for the final round will qualify for the JuniorCamp.

  • The best 4 participants of the second round qualify additionally for the EGMO.

Final Round

During the final round we will organize further meetings and a training weekend, which will be used to prepare for the finals in March. The final exam will take place at the end of a one week camp, the highlight of the Mathematical Olympiad, where you will get to know the other finalists and the organizing team and we will have a lot of fun together. The 12 best participants are awarded medals; usually 2 gold, 4 silver and 6 bronze medals. The awards ceremony will take place at the beginning of April during the MO-Day at ETH Zurich. Those who have been awarded a medal also qualify for the selection round, in which they compete for places at international events.

JuniorCamp

The JuniorCamp takes place every year in June and consists of a weekend where we pursue different mathematical topics and have fun with mathematics. The aim of this event is to support young students who have not yet qualified for the final round and to prepare them for the competition next year.