UCC Mathematics Enrichment Programme

Programme information

Math Notes

Olympiads

Maths circles

MathS links

Contact information

2017-2018 programme Registration: click here

The Mathematics Enrichment Saturday sessions are held in the Western Gateway Building, – building no 81 on this campus map. Here’s another map.

The 2017-2018 programme will start on SATURDAY, 11 NOVEMBER at 10:00 in Western Gateway Building.

The rooms, curriculum and resources for each group can be found in the Schedules below.

Senior Maths Enrichment	Intermediary Maths Enrichment	Junior Maths Enrichment	Maths Circles
Who: Most of the participants have attended the UCC Maths Enrichment Intermediary Classes in the previous year, but other students are welcome too.	Who: 4^th and 5^th year students as well as 3^rd year students who have attended Junior Maths Enrichment in the past. Participants receive invitations through schools. Other places available upon request.	Who: Most participants are students in their 2^nd or 3^rd Junior Cycle year who have attended a Maths Circle in their local school, or who have shown special interest and aptitude for Mathematics.	Who: Primary and Junior Cycle students in their first years of study, who are curious about mathematics and like maths games and puzzles.
Where: Western Gateway Building See schedule for room numbers.	Where: Western Gateway Building See schedule below for room numbers.	Where: Western Gateway Building See schedule for room numbers.	Where: Schools in the Cork area. If your school does not have a maths circle, ask your teacher to seek our help with setting up and running one.
Schedule	Schedule Including links to class-notes.	Schedule Including links to class notes	· 1^st year maths circles Handbook · Primary school Maths Circles Using Math.EU resources.
When: Saturdays 10:00-13:00 November 2017– May 2018	When: Saturdays 10:00-13:00 November 2017 – May 2018	When: Sat 10:00-11:30 November 2017– May 2018	When: Throughout the school year.
Why: Now the topics you met last year start to feel more familiar, the ideas sink in, and you find yourself a better problem solver. Smaller group, more one-to-one interaction. You get a chance to participate in events like Mathematical Olympiads	Why: You encounter deeper, more challenging and more interesting mathematical problems than those on the school syllabus. You get a chance to participate in the Mathematical Olympiads Leaving Cert results	Why: To continue on with the fun of Maths Circles. To meet like-minded people from other schools around the Cork area. To participate in contests like Alcumus challenges, or the Purple Comet	Why: Testimonials Maths Circles in the news. More info on the Maths Circles website.

Irish team at IMO 2016 in Hong Kong

Summer 2014 IMO squad training camp.

Summer 2014 in Western Gateway Building, UCC

Irish team at EGMO 2015 in Belarus, Minsk, with leader, deputy and guide

Karen Briscoe, Keegan O’Mahoney and Gavin O’Driscoll received the

Accenture prize for most meritorious performance- Leaving Certificate

Mathematics 2014

EGMO 2016 in Busteni, Romania

Mathematical Olympiads

What are Mathematical Olympiads? Contests for secondary school students, they are designed to test and stimulate the creativity, intuition and mathematical skills of the participants. They provide a competitive but friendly environment for students with an interest in mathematics. There are local, national and international mathematical Olympiads. The International Mathematical Olympiad is the pinnacle of mathematical competitions among school students.

How can I prepare?

· For younger students:

Here are some of the many fun competitions at local and national level for younger students to try before starting participating in a Mathematical Olympiad.

Event	When	Level
Achievement Awards	All year	Primary, junior and senior secondary school
LearnStorm challenge	January to May	Primary, junior and senior secondary school
Irish Maths Teachers Association competitions	Contact IMTA at info@corkmaths.ie	Junior and senior secondary school
Kangourou sans Frontières competition	April	Primary, junior and senior secondary school
Prism competition	October	Junior and senior secondary school
Purple Comet international online team competition	April	Junior and senior secondary school

Most of these train your reasoning skills, speed and precision. In addition, Mathematical Olympiads are proof-based tests which typically require more advanced knowledge outside of school curriculum, along with perseverance and creativity. To practice this skill set, join one of our Mathematics Enrichment classes. Please check the schedules above.

· For Mathematics Enrichment Programme participants:

Prior to the Irish Mathematical Olympiad (IrMO), please review the lecture notes and exercise sets from our classes: click on the titles in the schedule page. As well, do check the resources offered by other centres in Ireland: the UCD Maths Enrichment as well as the Maynooth Olympiad manual. You can find more notes and practice with old Olympiad problems in the Maths Notes section of this website.

· Students preparing for international olympiads: Here is a list of proposed free Olympiad Training Resources. Here is the 2017-2018 Calendar of Events

Every year we run three UCC based training camps for students who did well in IrMO.

Here is the Schedule of the August 2017 camp and here the Schedule of the August 2016 Camp. Click on the session titles for lesson notes.

External links- useful resources for national and international Olympiads:

Mathematical Database – the Elementary Mathematics section. Olympiad Number Theory notes. Olympiad Inequalities notes. Yufei Zhaos Olympiad training notes. Visit this Art of Problem Solving resource page for a large sample of international Olympiads.

Where can I get more information? Visit the official homepage of the Irish Mathematical Olympiad.

International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO)

IMO is the most prestigious international mathematics competition for school age students. The first IMO was held in 1959 in Romania, with 7 countries participating. It has gradually expanded to over 100 countries from 5 continents.

Cork Maths Enrichment students at the International Mathematical Olympiad in recent years years:

IMO 2017 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Anna Mustata (Bronze Medal)
IMO 2016 Hong Kong	Ioana Teodora Grigoras from Mount Mercy Secondary School (Honourable Mention) Liam Toebes from Carrigaline Community School Anna Mustata from Bishopstown Community School (Honourable Mention)
IMO 2015 Chiang Mai, Thailand	Ioana Teodora Grigoras from Mount Mercy Secondary School, Anna Mustata from Bishopstown Community School (Honourable Mention)
IMO 2014 Cape Town, South Africa	Karen Briscoe from Kinsale Community School (Honourable Mention)
IMO 2013 Columbia	Declan Manning from Ballincollig Community School (Honourable Mention)
IMO 2012 Argentina	Jonathan Peters from Presentation Brothers College (Honourable Mention)

Jonathan talks of Argentina 2012, IMO 2015 Thailand retrospective.

European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad (EGMO)

is an international mathematics competition similar in style to the International Mathematical Olympiad, aimed at motivating girls to develop their mathematical talent, gain self-confidence and experience with international competitions. Participating countries send teams consisting of four female mathematicians of school age.

The sixth EGMO took place in Zurich, Switzerland on 6-12 April 2017. The Irish team members were: Antonia Huang from Mount Anville Secondary School, Dublin (Bronze Medal), Anna Mustata from Bishopstown Community School, Cork (Silver Medal), Jean O’Brien from Castleknock Community College, Dublin (Honourable Mention) and Yuelin Xiong from Alexandra College, Dublin.

The fifth EGMO took place in Busteni, Romania on April 10-16, 2016. The Irish team members were the same as at EGMO 2016 (see below).

Ioana won a Bronze Medal and Anna won a Silver Medal. Also in the news here.

The fourth EGMO took place in Minsk on April 14-20, 2015. The Irish team members were: Antonia Huang from Mount Anville Secondary School, Dublin, Ioana Teodora Grigoras from Mount Mercy Secondary School, Cork, Anna Mustata from Bishopstown Community School, Cork (Silver Medal), Katie O’Connor from The High School, Dublin. The team leader was Dr. Mary Hanley and the deputy leader was Kieran Cooney.

The third EGMO took place Antalya on April 10-16, 2014. The Irish team was made of Karen Briscoe from Kinsale Community School, Ioana Teodora Grigoras from Mount Mercy Secondary School and Anna Mustata from Bishopstown Community School.

The second EGMO took place Luxemburg in April 2013. Karen Briscoe from Kinsale Community School and Anna Mustata from Bishopstown Community School were awarded Honourable Mentions. Here is An Irish team member report by Jessica Weitbrecht and some photos.

Irish Mathematical Olympiad (IrMO)

Is the national mathematics competition design to select the Irish team to participate in the IMO. It takes place every year in two rounds: Round 1 in November in schools across Ireland, and Round 2 in the Mathematics Enrichment centres in UCC, UCD, Maynooth, Limerick, Galway.

The Final Round of the 30th Irish Mathematical Olympiad took place on Saturday, 6 April 2017. Here is the Roll of Honour.

The Final Round of the 29th Irish Mathematical Olympiad took place on Saturday, 23 April 2016. Here is the Roll of Honour.

The Final Round of the 28th Irish Mathematical Olympiad took place on Saturday, 30 April 2015. Here is the Roll of Honour.

The Final Round of the 27th Irish Mathematical Olympiad took place on Saturday, 10 May 2014. Here is the Roll of Honour.

The Final Round of the 26th IrMO took place on Saturday, 11 May 2013. Here is the Roll of Honour

Short history: Mathematics Enrichment Classes at University College Cork

The programme was started in 1987 by Prof. Finbarr Holland and Donal Hurley, with the support of members of the Mathematics Department at UCC. These classes meet for three hours on Saturday mornings and around 100 students attend them. Students are invited to attend the classes based on their performance at the Junior Certificate Mathematics Examination and teacher recommendations. Invitations to attend these classes are highly valued. The topics covered are generally distinct from the Leaving Certificate Mathematics syllabus and the emphasis is on solving mathematical problems which require ingenuity and mathematical techniques.Programmes involving Mathematics Enrichment Classes are to be found in many countries. They are generally very extensive, meet more regularly and involve a large proportion of students. Generous sponsorship is readily available for such programmes as many of the leading scientists and engineers in these countries would have some of their early training at these activities.

Here are some highlights of the previous season:

· Three of our students have qualified to represent Ireland at the International Mathematical Olympiad IMO 2016. Here is the Irish Mathematical Olympiad roll of honour.

· Our Cork girls brought home two medals from the European Girls Mathematical Olympiad (EGMO). And for the 1^st time ever the IMO team Ireland is even 3 girls/3boys.

· The junior students had their best yet result in the Purple Comet international online competition.

· Last but not least, about 100,000 students from >40 countries found out about George Boole through our Boole2School lessons.

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Mathematics notes

Irish Mathematical Olympiad:      2003  Paper 1    /   Paper 2 2004  Paper 1    /   Paper 2     2005  Paper 1    /   Paper 2     2006  Paper 1    /   Paper 2     2007  Paper 1    /   Paper 2     2008  Paper 1    /   Paper 2     2009  Paper 1    /   Paper 2     2010  Paper 1    /   Paper 2 2011  Paper 1    /   Paper 2 2012 Paper 1 / Paper 2 2013 Paper 1 / Paper 2 2014 Paper 1 / Paper 2 2015 Paper 1 / Paper 2 2016 Paper 1 / Paper 2 EGMO selection tests: 2012 UCD Selection Test 2013 UCD Selection Test 2014 Local and final test and UCD test. 2015 UCD Selection Test 2016 UCD Selection Test

Geometry course notes, exercises and problem solving tips. IMO geometry problems 1 and 4 IMO geometry problems 2 and 5 Geometry notes on symmetry by Andrei Mustata Geometry notes by Sabin Tabirca:            1. Medial triangle           2. Equilateral Triangles           3. Inversion and Applications to Ptolemy and Euler           4. Feuerbach's Theorem           5. Orthic triangle           6. Theorems of Ceva, Menelaus and Van Aubel           7. Lemoine Point 8. Lemoine Point and Circles Geometry project1 and project2 by Prof Paddy Barry.

Notes on general problem solving: Peng Shi’s notes on all problem solving. The IMO compendium Group notes. Alcumus videos. Notes on Combinatorics: 1. Course notes by Martin Stynes. Basic Olympiad preparations: Chapters 1 and 6, begin 2 and 3. 2. Repetitions and conditions. 3. Binomial coefficients notes from UCD Notes on number theory: 1. Modular arithmetic by Anca Mustata:

Notes on inequalities by Professor Finbarr  Holland: 0. Beginning inequalities 1. Trigonometrical identities and inequalities 2. Complex numbers and polynomials 3. Geometric and algebraic inequalities 4. More inequalities -Variation on a common theme  5. Solutions 1  6. Solutions  2

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Maths Circles also have their own new webpage. Please make sure to check out the 1^st year Maths Circles lesson plan Handbook written by Ciaran O’Conaill.

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Sample Maths Circle activities:

Getting Started	Matchstick puzzles: Pdf Rtf	Intro to probabilities and combinatorics. Pdf	Logic puzzles, sequential thinking and graphs: Pdf	Magic circles and sets Pdf	Triangular puzzle Pdf	Slicing and guessing- powers of 2 Pdf	Jumping lizard permutations Pdf
				Magic products Pdf	Symmetry puzzles Pdf	Subtraction game Pdf	Chess board puzzles Pdf
Intermediate	Angles in triangle	Squares of sums	Multivariable action game	Binary numbers Pdf	Tilings	Triangular numbers Pdf	Areas Pdf
More challenging	Mastermind worksheet	Adding squares, cubes, etc.	Geometry without compass or right angles

A good source of nice puzzles, sorted by class: the Kangaroo contest. Problems with solutions: the Virtual Maths Club. A rich source of Maths puzzles and games, sorted by topic: Cut-the-knot.

A directory of e-books on maths games

Maths Circles on the Web:

MSRI: How to start a math circle

AIM: Math teachers circle network

The USA National Association of Math Circles

A nice link About math circles

Some sites of maths circles containing problem sets, lesson Lesson plans or other useful information: Toronto, Stanford, Berkeley.

Very rough sketch for lesson plan

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Mathematics links

International Mathematical Olympiad official site
International Mathematical Olympiad Canadian site
Irish Mathematical Olympiad

The Art of Problem Solving, including free interactive on-line learning
PRISM - Problem Solving for Irish Second Level.
Hamilton Mathematics Grand Challenge  - online mathematics contest, aimed at secondary school students of all ages.
The British Mathematical Olympiad
The American Mathematics Competitions
The Canadian Mathematical Society competitions site

Millennium Mathematics Project  based at the University of Cambridge
              -   NRICH, on-line mathematics magazine 
              -   PLUS, on-line magazine featuring applications of mathematics to the sciences, arts, commerce and society
              -   MOTIVATE videoconferencing project for schools

David Joyce’s online version of Euclid’s Elements.

GeoGebra dynamic mathematics software for schools.
A. Bogomolny, Interactive Mathematics Activities from Interactive Mathematics Miscellany and Puzzles

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Contact information

Email:  a.mustata@ucc.ie
Mathematics Enrichment Classes organizers:

Current: Anca Mustata                              tel (021)  420 5852
Previous: Dr. Donal Hurley                        
                     Professor Finbarr  Holland