Scuola estiva

[afullo]

Il buon Gregory mi ha girato stamattina questa mail:

Vi giro una mail di una mia compagna di classe. É riguardo a un programma rivolto agli studenti delle superiori per una summer school di 6 settimane in Boston e Oxford. Ci sono 10 borse di studio che coprono qualsiasi spesa di viaggio e pernottamento. La scadenza per l'application è il 1 di maggio, quindi serve spargere la voce un po' in fretta. Sembra un'ottima opportunità. Le borse al momento sono poche quindi probabilmente è sufficiente comunicarlo agi studenti migliori e in particolare agli olimpionici, ma stanno cercando di spostare il programma in Europa, quindi è buona cosa farlo conoscere il più possibile perché è probabile che nei prossimi anni la somma di denaro rivolta agli studenti europei aumenti.

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Dear students, professors, and parents,

I would like to tell you a little bit about an opportunity for European high school students interested in math. The PROMYS program is a summer math camp where students learn to do mathematics in a way closer to what research mathematicians might do. The subject matter for the first year is number theory, although the process of making conjectures, thinking deeply about their past math experiences, and analyzing new mathematical structures is emphasized over simply learning the material. For the very brightest students who can handle the number theory easily, there are also research labs as well as advanced courses on topics such as ring and field theory, Galois theory, geometry and symmetry, character sums, modular forms, etc. The program is directed by Glenn Stevens ( ghs@math.bu.edu ) at Boston University (Massachusetts, USA). You can find more information about the program at www.promys.org.

This year, PROMYS has just begun a new initiative with the Clay Mathematics Institute and as part of that we are looking to recruit students from Europe. We are offering ten full scholarships to European students (tuition, room and board, food, and airfare included). The program lasts for six weeks (June 30 - August 10), and, this year, will be followed by a week-long course in Oxford. If there are scheduling conflicts because of the regular school schedule, we are willing to work around that. For now, the main priority is to recruit quality applicants. From past years, we noticed that often the best students are the ones who are persistent and who are willing to work very hard, so it is important that they also enjoy struggling on math and they are willing to work even harder when they are stuck.

I have attached a flyer explaining more about the scholarship program, as well as a copy of the application. For the application, the students have to work independently on the application problems, write a little bit about themselves and obtain a recommendation from someone who knows them mathematically. Also note that admission is on a rolling basis, meaning that places can fill up before the application deadline, so the students are encouraged to apply as early as possible. If the places fill up, PROMYS will have to turn away some very strong applicants. The deadline is the 1st of May, so it is soon, but I assure you it is so much worth it to apply!

I have been to PROMYS as a counselor for three summers while I was an undergraduate and I wished I had the opportunity to be there as a student as well. I believe the program is an amazing chance for high school students to get a glimpse of what the mathematical research world might be like. Thus, I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys doing math. I think this is a great opportunity for both American and European students to meet and collaborate with young mathematicians from different parts of the world.

Please don't hesitate to ask any questions you might have, whether they are about the program structure, the mathematics, or the logistics of living in Boston (after all, the students would have to spend six weeks on a different continent). My e-mail address is corina.panda@gmail.com.

Thank you for your time and effort. I hope that we will receive a lot of strong applications!

Best regards,
Corina Panda
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Ci sono anche un paio di allegati PDF, che vedo di upparvi il prima possibile. Qualcuno di voi potrebbe essere interessato?

[ngshya]

una bellissima iniziativa! Lo giro subito ai miei...

[Drago]

A prima vista sembrerebbe una roba a livello IMO o delirante... (e quindi ben poche speranze di vincere le borse)
Potrebbe essere interessante, ma sicuramente non quest'anno; forse il prossimo o tra due...

Comunque grazie per avercelo fatto sapere!

[afullo]

Shuyi, se ti giro i PDF riesci ad upparli su questo spazio web?

[enigma]

In realtà il livello dei problemi d'ammissione è molto molto basso (direi inadeguato al livello del programma), e alcuni sono addirittura noti-il 2 è Putnam 1985-A4, il 5 è IMOLL 1983-7, il 9 è Putnam 1984-B6. Non fosse per la maturità e il costo, però, ci farei un pensierino...

[afullo]

E parte la sfida a distanza tra Zanotto e Tron...

[Drago]

Noto adesso i problemi!
Effettivamente non sembrano così difficili... Potrebbero far parte degli ultimi allenamenti in vista di cese xD

P.S: non so di cosa tu parli, ma probabilmente non è lecito chiamarla sfida dato che si sa già chi vince...

[afullo]

Intendevo che siamo ormai in clima Cesenatico e si iniziano a scaldare i motori

[enigma]

Se per te clima Cesenatico è sinonimo di sfida, evidentemente abbiamo concezioni diverse delle olimpiadi.

[afullo]

Ma sì dai, lo dico anche per mettere un po' di hype