Rules of International Student Team Competition in Mathematics

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Rules of the International Student Team Competition in Mathematics (ISTCiM)

§1 General

1. The organizer of the International Student Team Competition in Mathematics (ISTOCiM) – hereinafter referred to as the Competition – is Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Silesia in Katowice and Uppersilesian Branch of the Polish Mathematical Society - hereinafter referred to as the Organizers.

2. The Competition is aimed to all students at any stage of their studies (bachelor’s, master’s and postgraduate) who are interested in mathematics.

3. The Competition takes place every year in the first half of November at the Institute of Mathematics, Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Silesia in Katowice. The exact date of the next edition of the Competition is set not later than by the end of May in the year in which the given edition of the Competition is held.

4. The Competition consists of two parts: individual part and team part.

5. It is also possible to participate in the Competition remotely under the supervision of a local Representative of the Jury.

6. The official language of the Competition is English. Solutions must be written in English. Solutions written in another language will not be accepted.

§2 The objectives of the Competition

1. The goal of the competition is:

a) a) maintaining a keen interest in mathematics alive;

b) encouraging the development of all mathematically talented students from all participating higher education institutions and countries;

c) supporting friendly relations between higher education students and teachers of participating institutions;

d) promotion of cooperation between students and the development of interpersonal skills.

§3 Jury

1. The Competition is supervised by the Jury, which is the highest authority of the Competition. The Jury, based on site in Katowice – hereafter referred to as the Main Jury –, consists of the Chairman, the Permanent Jury and the Ordinary Jury. The Jury also includes local Representatives of the Jury (see §6.1.).

2. The Chairman is a member of the academic staff of the University of Silesia in Katowice and is elected for each academic year by the dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology.

3. Members of the Permanent Jury are appointed by the dean, referred to in p.2, at the request of the Chairman.

4. Each member of the Permanent Jury may resign from membership at any time.

5. The Ordinary Jury is established at the beginning of a given edition of the Competition and its composition is approved by the Chairman of the Jury during the first meeting.

6. The Ordinary Jury is formed by the Chairman, the members of the Permanent Jury Members present at the Competition, representatives of the universities participating in the Competition (Team Leaders) and selected members of the academic staff of the Organizers.

7. Decisions of the Jury are taken by a simple majority of votes.

8. The Chairman of the Jury always has a decisive vote.

§4 Competition Partecipants

1. The Competition is addressed to every student at any stage of the studies (undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate studies up to the third year), interested in mathematics.

2. Student teams up to five members are accepted. Team members, hereinafter referred to as Competitors, do not have to be from the same higher education institution or country. Each team should nominate one of its members as the Captain and it should be accompanied by the Team Leader who becomes a member of the Ordinary Jury.

3. The team part of the Competition is also open to Competitors who have not participated in the individual part; they must complete a registration form and a RODO declaration; they receive a zero score from the individual part.

4. Each Competitor can only be a member of one team.

5. There are no further restrictions on the number of participants and teams from any university or other higher education institution.

4. During the Competition, Competitors are not allowed to use any electronic devices or books at any time, except for English dictionaries. Competitors taking part in the remote form of the Competition work under the supervision of a local Representative of the Jury and are not allowed to contact anyone other than their Team Leader.

5. Only Team Leaders, referred to in p.2, are authorized to talk to the Jury.

§5 Applications for the Competition

1. Applications for the Competition take place electronically, via the Competition website, at http://istcim.math.us.edu.pl/.

2. Applications are accepted until the end of October in the year of a given edition of the Competition.

3. In the case of participants online, once the application has been confirmed, all technical details regarding participation in the Competition will be arranged directly with the local Representative of the Jury.

4. The condition for being accepted is consent to the processing of the personal data for the purpose of conducting the Competition and announcing the results of the Competition on the website referred to in p.1.

5. The content of the GDPR Information Clause for the Competitor and the Team Leader with the model declaration of consent constitutes the Appendix No.1 to these Rules.

§6 Rules for remote participation in the Competition

1. There is a possibility for remote participation in the Competition under the supervision of a local Jury representative.

2. Remote participation involves a fee of €10 for each participant in the individual part and €30 for each team. The participation fee for the individual part applies also to members of every team participating in the team part remotely.

3. Remote participation in the Competition is supervised by a local Representative of the Jury (who may also be the Team Leader, i.e. a member of the Ordinary Jury), who is responsible for following the Rules of the Competition and controlling the independence of the solutions.

4. At any stage of the Competition, both recording and broadcasting of the competition are prohibited.

5. Solutions of the Contestants must be scanned and sent to the previously provided e-mail address (by the Main Jury) immediately after the end of the competition.

6. Solutions are then checked and evaluated by a local Representative of the Jury according to the scheme sent by the Main Jury of the Competition sitting in Katowice.

7. In all cases of doubt, the local Representative of the Jury should contact the Main Jury sitting in Katowice.

8. The local Representative of the Jury shall send the final scores as soon as they have been completed for approval by the Main Jury.

9. Points 4. to 8. apply to both the individual and team parts of the Competition.

10. The official results of the individual part and the team part will be announced together with the final results calculated in accordance with §7 10. c) of the Regulations.

11. Competitors participating remotely in the Competition shall only receive a certificate or a diploma of the winner (depending on the result obtained).

12. Medals and prizes are awarded only to the Competitors of the stationary Competition held in Katowice. All Competitors (also those taking part remotely) receive a certificate or a diploma (depending on the result obtained).

§7 Problems

1. Problems for the Competition are selected from the following fields of mathematics:

a) algebra and combinatorics;

b) mathematical analysis (with topology and set theory);

c) equations and inequalities (including functional and differential equations);

d) geometry and linear algebra;

e) measure theory and probability theory.

2. The Problems are selected before the Competition by the Permanent Jury from among problems proposed by themselves and from those sent by any interested person. Each problem proposed should be original and should be submitted with a correct solution. In special cases, the Jury may also consider tasks without a submitted or known solution.

3. The individual part of the Competition consists in solving ten problems within four hours.

4. Competitors during the individual part solve the same problems. Solutions are evaluated regardless of the category, while prizes and diplomas are awarded according to category as indicated in p.5.

5. In the individual part, prizes and diplomas are awarded in three categories:

a) first category – undergraduate students (who have not yet received their Bachelor's degree);

b) second category – graduate students (who have not yet obtained their Master's degree);

c) third category – postgraduate students (who have not yet obtained their PhD degree, up to the third year of doctoral studies).

6. The team part of the Competition consists in solving ten problems within four hours.

7. Solutions are evaluated (both in the individual and team part) in the following scale: 0, 3, 8, 9 points, where:

a) 9 points are awarded for a complete solution (even with minor errors);

b) 8 points are awarded for an almost correct solution, which, however, has more serious defects (for instance: error in the final calculations, lack of statements of suitable claims and theorems or verification of their assumptions, etc.);

c) 3 points are awarded for solutions that are not complete but contain the main step towards the right solution;

d) 0 points are awarded to every other solution, even partial.

8. The solutions should be formulated in a clear and precise way that excludes ambiguity. The Competition is not a test of the Jury's deduction skills, the grade of unclear and imprecise solutions may be reduced even to 0 points.

9. Solutions that merely cite statements, lemmas or theorems from the scientific literature will not be accepted. The Competition is not a contest of encyclopaedic knowledge, its aim is to test one's own ability to solve mathematical problems and to present a complete reasoning.

10. The results of the Competition and the selection of winners are as follows:

a) in the individual part the result of each player is the total sum of points for solving all five problems; in the case of a tie, the winner is decided by a higher number of complete solutions;

b) in the team part the result of each team is the total sum of points for solving all ten problems, regardless of which team member is the author of the solution; in the case of a tie, the winner is decided by a higher number of complete solutions;

c) the final result of the team is determined in the following way: in each problem of the individual part, the points scored by members of the team are ranked and the second best result is selected; then their sum is added to the total of the points scored in the team part;

d) the winner is the team with the highest number of points in accordance with the part c); in the case of a tie the winner is decided by the higher place in the team part.

10. The authors of the best solutions may be asked to present them during the laureate announcement and award ceremony.

11. The list of winners will be made publicly available on the Competition website istcim.math.us.edu.pl.

§8 Final Regulations

1. The Organizers do not cover travel and accommodation costs or the cost and use of Internet connections necessary for participation in the Competition.

2. The value of the award for winners will not exceed PLN 2,000. Pursuant to Article 21 par.1(68) of the Act 2021.0.1119 of 26 July 1991, the aforementioned award is free of income tax. In the case of the online edition participants, the Organizers do not provide for any cash or material prizes.

3. All other disputes and issues not covered by these regulations shall be resolved by the Permanent Jury. The decisions of the Permanent Jury are irrevocable and not negotiable.