Tsinghua Mathcamp 2019

All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. - Galileo.

The Yau Tsinghua Mathcamp is a summer camp for mathematically talented and strongly motivated secondary school students from all across China. A highly selected group of students will be invited to join a four-week rigorous program to explore the art of creative problem solving with masters. Mathcamp will also offer a great opportunity for students to work on research projects through collaborative discoveries guided by their coaches and teachers.

This year's Mathcamp promises to be a very exciting one! First, Tsinghua University has recently inaugurated The the Yau Math Talent Undergraduate Program 丘成桐清华大学数学英才班, led by Professor Shing-Tung Yau himself. This prestigious talent program has recently been approved by the Chinese Ministry of Education. Every Mathcamper this year will get a chance to join this coveted program to study advanced mathematics at Tsinghua University with Professor Yau next year. Students in this program will also get a chance to participate in research projects by collaborating with world class mathematicians at Tsinghua and elsewhere. During the first four weeks of the Mathcamp, students will engage in an intensive research project while learning the art of creative problem solving. He or she will also be given an opportunity to earn a speaking spot at the Mathcamp Symposium to present their findings on the last day of classes. Top performers will receive priority consideration to the enrollment test for the Yau Math Talent Undergraduate Program!

Second, our talented Mathcampers will get to work with Olympiad Math masters to sharpen their OM problem solving skills. Mathcampers will also learn how these skills can be applied to real math research problems. There will be lectures on the powerful use of advanced mathematics to OM problem solving in a two-week long course, following our four-week program of lectures and research. Mathcampers will also be introduced to some real research works from former Olympiad Math winners. The contents include polynomials theories, abstract algebras, algebraic number theory, analysis, combinatorics, topology, and more.

In addition, we have invited Professor Po-Shen Loh of Carnegie Mellon University www.math.cmu.edu/~lohp/ to lead a Mathcamp Olympiad Math training program, 罗博深思维训练项目, for all eligible Mathcampers! Prof. Loh is renowned for his work in OM coaching both in the USA and internationally, and is returning for the second time to Mathcamp this summer. With his colleagues, he will lead a two-week training session at Tsinghua this summer, right after the regular four-week classes at Mathcamp.

The 2019 Mathcamp will be held on the Tsinghua University campus in Beijing. The camp is sponsored by the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Tsinghua University, the Yau Mathematical Sciences Center, and by generous donations from donors in China.

  • • Time: the 4-week regular Mathcamp classes will begin on Sunday July 14 and end on Sunday August 11, 2019. This is followed by a 2-week Olympiad Math session.
  • • Place: Department of Mathematical Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing
  • • Mathcamp activities: we expect to run two concurrent classes this year. Each class will run three 1.5-hour lectures daily, 5 days a week, conducted by research mathematicians. in addition, we have a 2-3-hour daily discussion session in small groups led by their Mathcamp Coaches, who are graduate students or postdoctoral fellows recruited from China and the U.S. Right after the four-week Mathcamp classes, the Mathcamp Olympiad Math program will start on August 12. All classes and discussions are expected to be conducted in English, though Chinese may be used through an interpreter occasionally. Highlights of the camp feature guest lectures by world-renowned mathematicians including the Fields Medalist Professor Shing-Tung Yau of Harvard University and the Yau Tsinghua Mathematical Sciences Center. In addition, Mathcamp may organize weekend excursions to famous institutions and historical attractions in Beijing.
  • • Subjects: our courses are expected to cover topics ranging from Linear Algebra, Galois Theory, Number Theory, Algebraic Combinatorics, to Analysis and Topology.
  • • Selection criteria: students are recruited on a competitive basis from a group of students nominated by some of the top high schools from across China. A selected group of math competition winners will also be invited to apply. About seventy of the very best students, usually aged 13-16, will be invited to join a Mathcamp class and the subsequent Olympiad Math program.
  • • Tuition fees: as in the last five years, admission to Mathcamp will be offered free of charge to all qualified students.
  • • Recommendation to the Yau Math Talent Undergraduate Program Enrollment Test: Our Mathcamp and Olympiad Math Teachers will evaluate every student based on their performance in a broad range of work during the six-week camp. It includes daily homework assignments, classroom participation, research projects, research report presentations, written exams, as well as their work in Olympiad Math. Top performers will receive the highest recommendation to the enrollment test for Yau Math Talent Undergraduate Program conducted by the University Admission Office.
  • • Disclosure: Mathcamp and its Teachers offer this recommendation as an independent assessment based on their work with each student. The acceptance or rejection of this recommendation by Tsinghua University or any other institution is completely up to the discretion of the said institution.