Promoting Math through the Ages

From Italy's elegant Florence Cathedral to Spain's magnificent Aqueduct of Segovia, architectural masterpieces of an ancient time permeate the Mediterranean region. These sometimes gargantuan structures remain to this day an incredible feat of accomplishment and stand as a testament to the human race and its capabilities in both artistic skill and mathematical intellect.

Perpetuating the mathematical ingenuity of talented individuals, the Mathematical Sciences Laboratory (LabSciMat) of the Rome University for International Studies hosted this year's first Mediterranean Youth Mathematical Championship (MYMC).

"The aim of the competition was to encourage Mediterranean youth, both male and female, to develop an interest in mathematics - a discipline which has been of great importance for the growth of the cultural community of the Mediterranean Sea," says Director of LabSciMat Giandomenico Boffi.

ICTP, together with the Italian National Institute for Advanced Mathematics and the Italian Ministry of Education, funded and promoted the competition. Of the twenty Mediterranean countries invited, seven participated: Cyprus, Italy, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Slovenia and Spain.

Funding went to four high school students, two boys and two girls, from each country to cover travel and housing expenses to Rome so they could compete against the other countries. The students arrived on July 17 and the competition took place the following day. The competition involved intense morning and afternoon stages where students from the same country collaborated to complete a series of complex mathematical problems without the use of calculators or other technology.

"Since high school curricula differ from country to country, the problems tend to challenge intelligence more than competence," Boffi says. "For the MYMC it was particularly important to be able to work as a team. Moreover, since English was the working language of the MYMC, this constituted an extra challenge for the participants, because none of them came from an English speaking country."

At the end of the day, the jury added up each country's score. With a total of 26 possible points, Italy took first place with 19.5 points followed closely by Spain with 18.5 points. Afterward, as a reward for their hard work, all students were granted an evening tour of Rome.

During the rewards ceremony the following day, each student received diplomas from several distinguished Italian mathematicians: Ciro Ciliberto, the president of the Italian mathematical society; Elisabetta Strickland, the vice-president of the Italian national institute for advanced Mathematics; Lucia Caporaso, the chair of the Mathematics and Physics department at "Roma Tre" University; Domenico Marinucci, the chair of the Math department at Tor Vergata University of Rome.
 
"The idea was to have a MathFest more than a competition," Boffi says. "Although the students already like Mathematics before coming, being involved in this event sharpens their interest for the subject and suggests the possibility of attending a university programme in mathematics offered by institutions located in other Mediterranean countries."