30/07/2020

Brazil has a record number of medals at the IMC 2020.

The participation of the ten Brazilian teams in the 27th International Mathematics Competition for University Students (IMC) of 2020 , held virtually between July 25 and 30, had encouraging results. The country had its best performance in the competition, winning 29 medals: eight gold, eight silver and thirteen bronze. Aimed at university students, the competition had the participation of 99 teams from higher education institutions in 46 countries. The results were announced during the closing ceremony of the competition, held by video this Thursday (30).

Among the Brazilians, the standout was Thiago Landim de Souza Leão, from the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE). With 50 points, he won a gold medal, placing 16th out of 546 students who participated in the competition.

The national team, composed of students who performed well in the 41st Brazilian Mathematics Olympiad (OBM 2019) – University Level, won five medals. André Yuji Hisatsuga and Eduardo Ventilari Sodré, from the University of São Paulo (USP), won silver. Felipe Chen Wu, from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), and João Pedro Sedeu and Lucas Hiroshi Harada, from USP, won bronze.

Professor Diego Eloi, leader of the OBM team, believes that the results are a strong indicator of Brazil's potential in Olympic competitions. "The increased participation of Brazilian teams showed that when students participate, they have a high probability of qualifying. Brazilian university students are very well prepared for these competitions."

Diego emphasizes that the country's good performance in the IMC was a collective effort. “Everything was the result of a lot of dedication. Each leader provided encouragement, strength, and fought for points during the qualifying rounds. This was crucial to the result. I am optimistic, but I didn't expect such a good result.”

In addition to the national team, the Olympic teams from Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV/Rio), Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA), Instituto Militar de Engenharia (IME), Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp), Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Universidade Federal de Alagoas (UFAL), USP São Carlos, and Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) participated in the tournament. The teams were led by representatives from each institution.

The exams were administered on July 26th and 27th, and participants had four hours per day to complete them. The questions involved problems in algebra, real and complex analysis, geometry, and combinatorics. Check out the exam questions.

Held since 1994, the IMC is organized by University College London in partnership with the American University in Bulgaria and welcomes the most outstanding graduate students in mathematics and related sciences from around the world.

Check out the results.