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UCT will host 2014 International Mathematical Olympiad

5 Apr 2012

The University of Cape Town (UCT) will host the 2014 International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) in July. The IMO is the world championship of mathematics, launched in in Romania in 1959. The oldest and biggest of the major international science olympiads for high schools today draws participants from more than 100 countries, representing 85% of the world's population.

Cape Town was selected as the host city by the South African Mathematics Foundation (SAMF). "2014 could be just what mathematics in South Africa needs. It is an opportunity to show the world that we are able to host world-class events and that we have world-class mathematicians," Johann Engelbrecht, the executive director of SAMF said.

First olympiad in Africa

Professor John Webb, emeritus professor of mathematics at UCT, will chair the local organising committee. He was responsible for taking the first South African teams to the IMO in 1992, and is currently secretary of the IMO Advisory Board. Professor Webb said: "South Africa has taken part in the IMO every year since 1992, and over the years South African teams have won a total of 42 medals: one gold, nine silver and 32 bronze.

"The IMO has never been held on the African continent before. At present rather few African countries take part in the IMO. We hope to increase the number of African participants significantly in 2014. Hosting the IMO is a major task, and we will be calling upon other Western Cape universities to join us in this project. Local maths teachers will also be recruited to give a hand."

Countries enter teams of up to six students, who must be 19 years old or younger and not registered at university. The teams write two challenging problem papers over two days. Each paper consists of just three problems.

Record entry for school competition

A record entry of 8 312 participants from a record number of 153 Western Cape schools will converge on UCT's Upper Campus on Monday evening, 16 April, to test their skills in the annual UCT Mathematics Competition, sponsored by Aurecon and Capitec Bank, with prizes donated by Casio and Oxford University Press.

More than 200 high school maths teachers will help run the competition, which will take place in 63 venues on campus. Separate papers for each grade, from Grade 8 to Grade 12, have been set by a committee of maths teachers and UCT lecturers.