The Mathematical Olympiads

What is a Mathematical Olympiad?

A Mathematical Olympiad is a problem solving competition open to all "mathletes". The aim of the competition is to test innate problem solving skills. The problems are restricted to those that require minimal background and high ingenuity. Since one of the goals of such olympiads is to identify talent at a young age, these olympiads are usually restricted to students not yet admitted to any undergraduate programme.

International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO)

The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is the World Championship Mathematics Competition for High School students and is held annually in a different country. The first IMO was held in 1959 in Romania, with 7 countries participating. It has gradually expanded to over 100 countries from 5 continents. IMO 2012 was held in Mar del Plata, Argentina. IMO 2013 will be held in Santa Marta, Colombia.


Team India in IMO 2012
L to R: Subham Bhakta, Debdyuti Banerjee, Akashdeep Dey, Narasimhan Chari (Dy Leader), B J Venkatachala (Leader),
S S Sane (Observer/National Coordinator), Prafulla S Dhariwal, Mrudul M Thatte, Rijul Saini

India has been participating in the IMO since 1989 and hosted it in Mumbai in 1996. The 6-member Indian team for the IMO is selected through a three-step procedure, organised by the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE) on behalf of the National Board for Higher Mathematics (NBHM) and funded by the Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India.

Several RMOTC's have been organized of late: (i) during May 28-June 2, 2012 and October 30-November 2, 2012 at ISI, Kolkata, (ii) during 12-14 June, 2012 and 6-7 November, 2012 at North Bengal University.
If any academic institution wants to organize similar camps with help from us, the organizers are encouraged to contact us. We shall be glad to support such activities by providing resource personnel.

The Regional Mathematical Olympiad is a state level examination, a stepping stone towards the national level examination, the INMO.
An INMOTC is organized at ISI, Kolkata  every year. The next INMOTC will be held during January 14--18, 2013. All RMO awardees are invited.
Awardees of INMO-2012 merit certificates also are eligible to attend the next INMOTC. Awardees planning to attend are requested to communicate to the organizer, preferably by email to rmo@isical.ac.in, about their participation. Also, they are requested to bring the INMO-2012 merit certificate and give the organizer a copy of it when they come to ISI, Kolkata. Further information on this matter may be sought by sending email to rmo@isical.ac.in.
Participants who stay away from Kolkata will be offered accommodation, if they so request. They can send their request by email to rmo@isical.ac.in. Accommodation will be offered ONLY to the participants. All participants are requested to send their email id and telephone number -- by email to rmo@isical.ac.in, if they have not, where they can be contacted.  

We are happy to announce the establishment of Mukul Chaudhuri Memorial Prize for the best girl student from each Class VIII to XII, irrespective of whether they are selected for INMO or not, provided they score a minimum qualifying marks. The Prize, in form of books, is made possible by a generous gift from Professor Soma Chaudhuri of Iowa State University, in the memory of her mother.
Mukul Chaudhuri (1922 - 2007) was a talented student of mathematics. She received the Kirtichand-Mackenzie Memorial Gold Medal in 1938, awarded to the candidate with the highest marks in mathematics in the Calcutta University Matriculation Exam. She completed her Bachelor's degree in Mathematics in 1942. However her academic career was cut short due to the political situation at the time (Partition of India). She became a school teacher in mathematics and taught in a variety of schools, both in India and abroad. Even though she couldn't further her own academic career, she encouraged numerous girls to pursue higher education in mathematics-related disciplines.

  • How does one prepare?
    • RMO-1990, RMO-1991, RMO-1992, RMO-1993, RMO-1994, RMO-1995, RMO-1996, RMO-1997, RMO-1998, RMO-1999, RMO-2000, RMO-2001, RMO-2002, RMO-2003, RMO-2004, RMO-2005, RMO-2006, RMO-2007.
    INMO-1989, INMO-1990, INMO-1991, INMO-1992, INMO-1993, INMO-1994, INMO-1995, INMO-1996, INMO-1997, INMO-1998, INMO-1999, INMO-2000, INMO-2001, INMO-2002, INMO-2003, INMO-2004, INMO-2005, INMO-2006, INMO-2007, INMO-2008.