What do you know about the national Mathematical Olympiads in Brazil? We start this article with two curious facts about next year’s main competition.
First, there will be only one large national competition, as opposed to two, which was the rule for 12 years.
Second, some 20 million competitors are expected to take part the 2017 event. By all accounts,
our Olympiad will be the largest scientific competition in the world, as has already been true
for many years of one of its predecessors!
One can understand this huge number, and the reason why there were two large Olympiads until
recently, by looking at the history of such events in Brazil. The upcoming 2017 Brazilian
Mathematical Olympiad is a unique melding of two events with distinct origins and goals.
The combination of these two competitions is expected to deliver even more benefits to
Brazilian Mathematics than the sum of the parts.
The original elite squad
The original “Olimpíada Brasileira de Matemática” (OBM) is sponsored by the “Sociedade
Brasileira de Matemática” (Brazilian Mathematical Society) and was introduced in 1979.
Like similar competitions in other countries, this has been a very influential event.
While small when compared to OBMEP (see below), OBM has played a major role in shaping
the Brazilian mathematical culture. Many influential teachers and researchers
-- Fields Medal winner Artur Ávila among them -- had their interest in Math piqued by
this competition. Several popular mathematical books were written with OBM as a pretext,
and these have been influential beyond the confines of the competition. Finally, OBM is
also how Brazil selects its team members for international mathematical competitions,
including the International Mathematical Olympiad.
The 2016 OBM consisted of two-stage competitions at four different levels, from middle school to
college. The total number of enrolled participants across all categories is close to 500,000.
OBM-related activities include “Semana Olímpica” (Olympic week), in which students and scholars
gather for a week of intensive training and often form lifelong bonds of friendship.
Reaching out for the masses
A different kind of competition was introduced in 2005, called “Olimpíada Brasileira de Matemática
das Escolas Públicas” (Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad for Public Schools, or OBMEP), run by IMPA
and the Brazilian Ministries of Education and Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications.
From its inception, OBMEP was about reaching out for as many students as possible. Nearly all
municipalities in Brazil register participants in the first and second stages of this competition.
In 2015, nearly 18 million students were registered in the first stage of OBMEP; nearly 900,000
progressed to the second stage; and about 6,500 gold silver and bronze medals were awarded.
Medal winners are eligible for one-year training programs with a small stipend, an experience
described as “life-changing” by many participants. College students who are OBMEP medalists
may be selected for accelerated training programs towards a Master’s degree in Math.
A unique aspect of OBMEP is that competition is but one aspect of this multipronged educational
initiative. Other aspects include a highly successful series of videos (with over 8 million
views in 2015), free educational material for teachers and students based on OBMEP exams,
and support to Math clubs throughout the country.
The synthesis
Up to this year OBM and OBMEP were run as separate entities. In 2017 the two competitions will be
combined into a single event of even greater reach.
The outlines of this new initiative are as follows. What is now OBMEP will be maintained as it is,
with the same two-stage structure and prizes. The main novelty in this respect is that private
schools will also be allowed take part in this exam, although medalists from public and private
schools will be selected separately. Current OBM will correspond to an optional “third stage”
to the two OBMEP-style exams.
The melding of OBM and OBMEP is destined to produce even more interest in our discipline.
It is reasonable to hope that the many benefits of the two competitions will be magnified by
their combination. In a country of continental proportions, only an initiative this message
can help in promoting Mathematics across the board.
Links for this article
OBM –
http://www.obm.org.br/
OBMEP -
http://www.obmep.org.br/
