The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is a mathematical competition that has been organized every year from 1959.
“This is a great opportunity for talented school kids”, says Geir Dahl, Head of Department of Mathematics, and adds that organizing this is part of the long-term recruitment plans for the Department.
An opportunity for talented students
IMO gives talented pupils a goal to reach for and an opportunity to meet like-minded students from other countries for friendly competition. Norway has participated since 1984, and John Rognes, now professor at the Department of Mathematics, was the first Norwegian to participate.
Every country can send up to six participants and two team leaders. The problems usually cover geometry, number theory, algebra and combinatorics. In principle, they only cover pre-university mathematics, but they require a thorough understanding and great creativity to solve. Prizes are awarded for exceptionally elegant solutions.
From the Abel Competition to IMO
The Abel Competition is an annual competition for high school students in Norway with over 4000 participants. Six participants are selected to represent Norway at the IMO.
“We have now participated 34 times and benefited from the hard work of many people to create a meeting place for talented students”, says former participants and last year’s Deputy Team Leader Johannes Kleppe.
In 2022 Norway will be the host country, and be responsible for the participants for the duration of their stay. The completion has about 800 participants in addition to the local organizing committee. So far, the best Norwegian result came in 2008 when Jørgen Vold Rennemo, now a postdoc at the Department of Mathematics, won a gold medal and was ranked number 12 of 535 participants.
Support for African countries
There are more than 100 countries participating, but few countries from Africa. For IMO 2022 there will be separate funding for travel grants for African countries. We will utilize links between the University of Oslo and African universities and hopefully this will result in an increase in African participation. The IMO is organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, which also will provide financial support.
When Norway was awarded the IMO for 2022, the then Minister of Education, Torbjørn Røe Isaksen said that “It is an honor that Norway will have the opportunity to organize the International Mathematical Olympiad. We will be able to see the world’s best students compete in an extremely important subject like mathematics”.