A special summer camp for math-loving students.

Students participating in PiMA 2024 come from nearly 20 provinces and cities across the country - Photo: Provided by the interviewee.

This PiMA summer camp is exclusively for high school students. The program takes place over a week at the University of Science (Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City).

The program fully covers all expenses for participants and attracts students from across the country to register.

It all started with scholarships.

In 2016, PiMA started with the idea of ​​former IMO gold medalist Can Tran Thanh Trung (29 years old). After winning gold at the IMO, Trung received a full scholarship to Duke University (USA) and used a portion of his annual scholarship money to start the PiMA summer camp. From the first year, students nationwide with a passion for mathematics could register and receive scholarships to participate in PiMA.

After two years, the group sought additional funding and received a positive response. Many professors from the University of Science, philanthropists passionate about Vietnamese mathematics, and parents whose children had previously participated in PiMA all contributed to the program.

"This year, we even have former campers who have gone on to work returning to contribute to PiMA," shared Dr. Can Tran Thanh Trung, who has now returned to Vietnam to work as a lecturer at the University of Science (Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City).

Tran Hoang Bao Linh - former silver medalist at the 2012 IMO, currently a PhD student at Yale University (USA), and co-founder of PiMA - shared that in Vietnam, students are always considered to have potential in mathematics, but the curriculum they are exposed to is still too theoretical and dry. Conversely, if they are given broader exposure to up-to-date mathematical models, they will broaden their understanding and perspective on mathematics, thereby shaping their career path from an early age.

According to Bao Linh, the challenge in maintaining a summer camp like PiMA doesn't lie in the funding, but in how to enable former campers to support the next generation. To achieve this, each previous generation must inspire and create opportunities for their peers to organize similar events in subsequent years.

For example, at PiMA 2024, Tran Phan Anh Danh – currently a student at Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), and a former national top student in physics in 2022 – is ready to return to Vietnam to inspire younger students. In 2021, Anh Danh participated in PiMA online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even so, the lectures from former IMO contestants that year ignited a great passion for mathematics in Anh Danh. Many online sharing sessions lasted until midnight.

"Besides mathematics, the campers also get to learn about the university environment beforehand so they can plan their studies accordingly. This year, many of them asked me about studying at university in Singapore, the differences between studying in Singapore and studying in Vietnam, and mathematics-related majors in Singapore... I want to inspire them in the same way I inspired them before," Anh Danh said.

Interacting with graduate students, listening to people applying mathematics, and hearing from leading professors will give you many different perspectives on mathematics compared to high school.

Tran Hoang Bao Linh (former IMO 2012 silver medalist, PhD candidate at Yale University - USA)

New mathematical concepts

Nguyen Hoang Khang - the valedictorian of the University of Science (Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City) in 2023, preparing to pursue graduate studies at the University of California, Los Angeles - shared that each year the summer camp chooses an interesting theme. Participating students can explore new perspectives on mathematics, different from the problems they learned in high school. This year's theme is linear programming - a part of the larger model of optimization mathematics.

"These mathematical modeling studies were still being researched until the 2000s. Therefore, students will have access to very new knowledge. The knowledge is also very practical, used to solve problems related to optimizing performance and costs in production, transportation, etc., so students will find that mathematics is not boring at all," said Nguyen Hoang Khang.

According to Hoang Khang, university-level knowledge will be presented in an easily understandable way for high school students. Each summer camp is usually divided into two stages. First, students learn theoretical knowledge, and then they apply this knowledge to practical projects.

This year, students applied their knowledge of linear programming to various projects such as game probability, financial optimization, and stock investment. Between the two phases, there were experiential trips to research institutions in Ho Chi Minh City that are applying mathematics.

Inspiration to pursue a career in mathematics.

In 2024, PiMA was held from July 21st to 28th, attracting students from nearly 20 provinces and cities across the country. For many students, this was their first time visiting a major city and experiencing the activities within a university.

Tran Le Diem Quynh, an 11th-grade student at Quang Tri Town High School and a participant in PiMA 2024, shared that she has loved mathematics since childhood and wants to major in mathematics at university, but is unsure if it's the right fit for her.

A week at summer camp helped Quynh overcome many of her invisible fears and realize that she could fully understand new mathematical concepts at the university level. "The professors' lectures on AI and data science suggested further applications of mathematics for the future," Quynh said.

Pham Quoc Binh, a former student of Thong Nhat High School ( Dong Nai province ), who applied for admission to the mathematics and computer science program in the 2024 university entrance exam, said that this summer camp trip marked his transition from high school to university. Meeting friends and older students who share his passion for mathematics gave him a lot of inspiration to pursue this field of study.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/trai-he-dac-biet-cua-nhung-co-cau-tro-me-toan-20240802090941345.htm