The International Mathematics Competition (IMC) for University Students is an annual mathematics competition open to all undergraduate aged students of mathematics. Participating students are expected to be at most twenty-three years of age at the time of the IMC, although some exceptions can be made. The IMC is primarily a competition for individuals, although most participating universities select and send one or more teams of students. The working language is English.

The IMC is a residential competition and all student participants are required to stay in the accommodation provided by the organisers. It aims to provide a friendly, comfortable and secure environment for university mathematics students to enjoy mathematics with their peers from all around the world, to broaden their world perspective and to be inspired to set mathematical goals for themselves that might not have been previously imaginable or thought possible.

Students from over 200 universities from over 50 countries have participated over the first thirty-one competitions. At the 29th IMC in 2022 participants were awarded Individual Result Prizes, Fair Play Prizes and Most Efficient Team Leader Prizes.

University College London has been involved in the organisation of the IMC and Professor John E. Jayne has served as the President from the beginning in 1994. The IMC runs over five or six days during which the competitors sit two five-hour examinations, each with five questions (six until 2008) chosen by a panel and representatives from the participating universities. Problems are from the fields of Algebra, Analysis (Real and Complex), Combinatorics and Geometry.

History The IMC began in 1994 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, with 49 participants, mostly from Bulgaria, from 6 countries, and was hosted by Plovdiv University "Paisii Hilendarski". The 2nd, 3rd and 4th IMC were also hosted by Plovdiv University "Paisii Hilendarski" in Plovdiv. From 1996 to 1999 the IMC was one of the activities of the Structural Joint European Union TEMPUS Project #S_JEP-11087-96, entitled "Modular Education in Mathematics and Informatics", which was the flag ship European Union TEMPUS Project in Bulgaria at the time, aimed at bringing Bulgaria's university mathematics and computing degree programs into line with those in the European Union in preparation for Bulgaria's entry into the European Union. University College London was the Contractor for this European Union TEMPUS Project. In 1998 the 5th IMC was moved to Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, and was hosted by both the South-West University "Neofit Rilski" in Blagoevgrad and the American University in Bulgaria. The 5th IMC had 80 participants from 9 countries, marking a significant milestone in its history.

The 6th IMC was hosted by Eötvös Loránd University and held on Lake Balaton in Keszthely, Hungary, the 7th IMC was hosted by University College London in London, the 8th IMC was hosted by Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, the 9th IMC was hosted by the University of Warsaw in Warsaw, Poland, the 10th IMC was hosted by Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, the 11th IMC was hosted by Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje in Skopje, Macedonia, the 12th IMC was hosted by American University in Bulgaria in Blagoevgrad, the 13th IMC was hosted by Odesa University in Odesa, Ukraine, the 14th IMC and 15th IMC were again hosted by the American University in Bulgaria in Blagoevgrad, and the 16th IMC was hosted by the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. In 2009 the 16th IMC had 347 student participants and 65 teams. Since 2010 the IMC has been hosted by the American University in Bulgaria, in Blagoevgrad, with assistance from the South-West University "Neofit Rilski" in Blagoevgrad. The 26th IMC had 360 student participants and 77 teams. The 27th and 28th IMCs were held on-line due to the global pandemic. The 29th IMC was hybrid with both in-person and on-line participants. It had 663 student participants and 100 teams. The 30th IMC returned to being on only in-person event. It had 393 student participants and 72 teams. The 32nd IMC had 434 student participants, and 73 team leaders, from 52 countries.

Notable Past Award Winners Caucher Birkar, Fields Medal Winner and Professor at the University of Cambridge. Maryna Viazovska, Fields Medal Winner and Professor at EPFL-Swiss Federal Technology Institute of Lausanne. Roman Karasev. Professor at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology Nima Anari, Professor at Stanford University. Maryam Saeedi, Professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Ali Kakhbod, Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Gabriel Kreindler, Professor at Harvard University. Martin D. Kassabov, Professor at Cornell University. Andrej Zlatoš, Professor at UC San Diego. Marianna Csörnyei, Professor at the University of Chicago. Florian Herzig, Professor at the University of Toronto. Simion Filip, Professor at the University of Chicago. Rasool Etesami, Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Behrouz Touri, Professor at the University of California, San Diego. Kaveh Kasebian, Professor at Virginia Tech. Naser Talebizadeh Sardari, Professor at Penn State University. Jalal Etesami, Professor at the Technical University of Munich. Sam Nariman, Professor at Purdue University. Gaku Liu, Professor at the University of Washington. Djordje Milicevic, Professor at Bryn Mawr College. Anton Mellit, Assoz. Professor at the University of Vienna. Samuel Hapák, CEO, Director, WINCENT.

Summary NumberYear Host City Host Country Dates1st IMC 1994 Plovdiv 28 July–2 August2nd IMC 1995 Plovdiv 2–7 August3rd IMC 1996 Plovdiv 31 July–5 August4th IMC 1997 Plovdiv 30 July–4 August5th IMC 1998 Blagoevgrad 29 July–3 August6th IMC 1999 Keszthely 29 July–2 August7th IMC 2000 London 26–31 July8th IMC 2001 Prague 19–25 July9th IMC 2002 Warsaw 19–25 July10th IMC 2003 Cluj-Napoca 25–31 July11th IMC 2004 Skopje 23–29 July12th IMC 2005 Blagoevgrad 22–28 July13th IMC 2006 Odesa 20–26 July14th IMC 2007 Blagoevgrad 3–9 August15th IMC 2008 Blagoevgrad 25–31 July16th IMC 2009 Budapest 25–30 July17th IMC 2010 Blagoevgrad 24–30 July18th IMC 2011 Blagoevgrad 28 July–3 August19th IMC 2012 Blagoevgrad 26 July–1 August20th IMC 2013 Blagoevgrad 6–12 August21st IMC 2014 Blagoevgrad 29 July–4 August22nd IMC 2015 Blagoevgrad 27 July–2 August23rd IMC 2016 Blagoevgrad 25–31 July24th IMC 2017 Blagoevgrad 31 July–6 August25th IMC 2018 Blagoevgrad 22–28 July26th IMC 2019 Blagoevgrad 28 July–3 August27th IMC 2020 ON-LINEON-LINE 25–30 July28th IMC 2021 ON-LINEON-LINE 2–7 August29th IMC 2022 Blagoevgrad 1–7 August30th IMC 2023 Blagoevgrad 31 July–6 August31st IMC 2024 Blagoevgrad 5 August–11 August32nd IMC 2025 Blagoevgrad 28 July–3 August33rd IMC 2026 Blagoevgrad 27 July–3 August

See also List of mathematics competitions Intermediate Mathematical Challenge

References

External links IMC Official Website London Mathematical Society Newsletter March 2018, page 11 American Mathematical Society Opportunities "Contests and Competitions" Profile at Student Competitions American University in Bulgaria IMC News