20/12/2018

Call for applications for the Olympic Training Centers has been released.

Aula do POTI em Goiânia, em 2017 Foto: Cortesia do professor Bruno Holanda

How about opening the doors to the school community to prepare for the highly competitive mathematics olympiads held annually by IMPA? Those who accept the invitation can already submit a proposal to participate in the Intensive Training Olympic Centers (POTI), a program that offers free training for the competitions, with the aim of improving student performance.

Affiliated centers and volunteers interested in teaching in-person classes focusing on the Brazilian Mathematics Olympiad for Public Schools (OBMEP) and the Brazilian Mathematics Olympiad (OBM) should consult the 2019 announcement and complete the form available on the official POTI website by 11:59 PM on January 20th.

At the time of registration, it is necessary to provide the name of the city, the location where the in-person classes will be held, an estimate of the initial number of students from the region who would be interested in the courses, and the Lattes curriculum addresses of the participating professors. The learning centers must demonstrate adequate demand and infrastructure, according to the call for applications.

Although there is a possibility of the center receiving funding, most of it operates on a voluntary basis. In this case, the National Coordination of POTI, carried out by IMPA, the Ministry of Education (MEC), and the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications (MCTIC), offers institutional support for obtaining volunteer professors and other sources of funding.

The courses will be taught from March to December 2019, with a total workload of 120 hours, and should cover topics corresponding to Level 2 of OBMEP/OBM, i.e., students in the 8th and 9th grades. However, the training is open to all interested students, including students in levels 1 (6th and 7th grades) and 3 (High School).

If you are a student and wish to participate in the courses, please pay attention to the results of the POTI public call, scheduled to be released on February 1st. If your city is selected, you can register for in-person classes between February 25th and March 17th on the official POTI website. Classes are expected to begin the week of March 23rd.