Past and future EGMOs

EGMO: EGMO 2012 in United Kingdom: Regulations

General Regulations

1. General

1.1. The European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad (EGMO) shall if possible be held once per calendar year.

1.2. The EGMO is governed by these General Regulations together with the Annual Regulations which specify details specific to each EGMO or required by national law. The Annual Regulations take precedence over the General Regulations.

1.3. An EGMO shall take place on dates and in a European country specified in the Annual Regulations. The dates should be during the months of March and April.

1.4. A “Host Organisation” specified in the Annual Regulations shall have overall responsibility for the organisation of an EGMO.

1.5. The aim of the EGMO is to give more girls an opportunity to perform mathematically on an international stage, and so to discover, encourage and challenge mathematically gifted young women in all European countries.

2. Participation

2.1. Participation in the EGMO is by invitation only. Each invited country is entitled, subject to available space, to send a team consisting of up to four contestants (the “Contestants”), a Leader, and a Deputy Leader, to be known collectively as the participants (the “Participants”). There may be charges, specified in the Annual Regulations, for participation by teams from non-European countries.

2.2. A country’s Contestants should normally be citizens or residents of that country, and should be selected through that country’s national Mathematical Olympiad or equivalent selection programme. Contestants must not have formally enrolled at a university or any other equivalent post-secondary institution, and they must have been born less than twenty years before the day of the second Contest paper.

2.3. Observers, including family members, (the “Observers”) may apply to accompany the Participants. Observers may be Observers A, accompanying the Leader, Observers B, accompanying the Deputy Leader, or Observers C, accompanying the contestants. The Annual Regulations specify whether Observers may attend a given EGMO, the charges for Observers and the deadlines for payment of such charges. Since extra accommodation is limited, no guarantee is given that applications to accompany the Participants will be successful.

2.4. Contestants must be female. The Annual Regulations may require Observers C to be female. There are no restrictions on the gender of other Participants and Observers.

2.5. The official programme (the “Official Programme”) as referred to below is the programme and outline itinerary for an EGMO and associated events. The Host Organisation reserves the right to amend or revise the Official Programme in whole or part. If it becomes necessary to make any significant changes, Participants and Observers of the invited countries will be notified. The Official Programme will contain, among other things, details of accommodation arrangements (including food) for Participants and Observers and the venues for various official events associated with an EGMO. The detailed Official Programme may not be disclosed until arrival.

2.6. Each invited country wishing to participate in an EGMO must confirm their participation in the way and by the date specified in the invitation. Participants, Observers and their travel details must be registered by dates specified in the Annual Regulations.

2.7. Leaders and Deputy Leaders are responsible for the conduct of the Contestants, and for the avoidance of doubt the Leaders and Deputy Leaders are acting in loco parentis for their Contestants except where the Host Organisation has been notified in writing that an Observer has been nominated to act in loco parentis.

2.8. Leaders and Deputy Leaders must ensure that their Contestants know and fully understand the Contest Regulations. They must also make it clear that any Contestant who violates any of these Regulations may be liable to disqualification from an EGMO.

3. Responsibility for Accommodation and Expenses

3.1. The official arrival and departure sites are specified in the Annual Regulations.

3.2. The Host Organisation will cover all official expenses for Participants and Observers, including accommodation, meals, transport between the official arrival and departure sites and the accommodation sites, as well as other necessary transport between the accommodation sites and other venues on the Official Programme for all the Participants and Observers.

3.3. Other than in respect of the provision of accommodation, meals and transport during the Official Programme as detailed in sub-clause 3.2, the Host Organisation shall not be liable under any circumstances for any costs or expenses whatsoever or howsoever incurred by any Participant or Observer in connection with an EGMO. In particular, the Host Organisation shall not be liable for any expenses derived from:

  • spending extra days in the host country outside the period specified in the Annual Regulations;
  • travel to and from the host country incurred by Participants or Observers;
  • travel within the host country prior to arrival at the chosen official arrival site or following departure from the chosen official departure site.

3.4. All Participants and Observers are responsible for obtaining full accident, health and travel insurance if desired and the Host Organisation shall not be liable for any expenses arising from failure to obtain such insurance.

3.5. The Host Organisation will offer opportunities to Participants and Observers for excursions and/or cultural trips but will be under no obligation to organise specific activities.

3.6. The Annual Regulations specify whether accommodation is in shared or single rooms. Where accommodation is in shared rooms, the Annual Regulations may permit application to be made for a single room, and specify the charges for accommodation in single rooms and the deadlines for payment of such charges. Since extra accommodation is limited, no guarantee is given that such applications will be successful.

4. Proposals for Problems

4.1. Each participating country other than the host country is invited to submit up to six proposed problems, with solutions, to be received by the Problem Selection Committee by a date specified in the Annual Regulations.

4.2. The proposals should, as far as possible, cover various fields of pre-university mathematics and be of varying degrees of difficulty. They should be new and may not have been suggested for or used in any other mathematics competition.

4.3. The proposals and solutions must be written in English.

4.4. The Problem Selection Committee will select the contest problems on the basis of the submitted proposals. The selected problems will be presented to the Jury (see sub-clause 6.1) for translation before each paper. The Problem Selection Committee will select an alternative to each problem in case that problem proves to be already known when presented to the Jury.

4.5. A Shortlist of problems selected on the basis of the submitted proposals may be created by the Problem Selection Committee and distributed to Leaders and Observers A. If distributed, it must be kept strictly confidential until the conclusion of the following year’s EGMO, or, if no EGMO has started by the end of April in the following year, until the end of April in that year. The shortlisted problems may be used in national training and selection processes, but those receiving papers with such problems must be made aware of their confidentiality.

5. Contest Regulations

5.1. The contest element of an EGMO (the “Contest”) will take place on two consecutive days specified in the Annual Regulations, under the direction of the Chief Invigilator appointed by the Host Organisation. On each day of the Contest the examination will start in the morning and last for four and a half hours. Each of the two examination papers will consist of four problems.

5.2. Each Contestant may receive the problems in one or two languages, previously requested during registration, provided that the Jury has approved the relevant translation.

5.3. Each Contestant must work independently and submit solutions in her own language. The solutions must be written on answer forms provided by the Host Organisation. Contestants must write on only one side of each answer form.

5.4. The only instruments permitted in the Contest will be writing and drawing instruments, such as rulers and compasses. In particular, books, papers, tables, calculators, protractors, computers and communication devices will not be allowed into the examination room.

5.5. The Jury, Observers and any others who have any knowledge of the problems and solutions before the examinations shall do their utmost to ensure that no Contestant has any information, direct or indirect, about any proposed problem. They must also ensure that each day’s Contest problems and solutions are kept strictly confidential until after that day’s paper has finished. They are barred, on each Contest day between the presentation of the problems to the Jury and the conclusion of the paper, from having any external communication with Contestants, Deputy Leaders and accompanying Observers. However, if such communication becomes necessary because of an emergency, the Host Organisation will provide proper assistance. Similarly, Contestants, Deputy Leaders and Observers B and C are barred from contacting Leaders and Observers A during the same periods of time.

5.6. The total number of prizes (first, second and third) will be approximately half the total number of Contestants. The numbers of first, second and third prizes will be approximately in the ratio 1:2:3.

5.7. Special prizes may be awarded for solutions considered outstanding by the Jury. Proposals for such special prizes will be put forward by the Chief Coordinator appointed by the Host Organisation.

5.8. The prizes will be awarded at the Closing Ceremony. Each Contestant who has not received a first, second or third prize will receive a Certificate of Honourable Mention if she has received seven points for the solution of at least one problem.

5.9. Each Participant and Observer will receive a Certificate of Participation.

6. Jury Regulations

6.1. The “Jury“ will consist of all Leaders, together with a Chairman. A Leader may be replaced by his/her Deputy Leader in an emergency (subject to the prior approval and consent of the Chairman of the Jury). Observers A, members of the Problem Selection Committee and the Coordinators (as defined in clause 7 below) may also attend meetings of the Jury as observers. Observers will not be entitled to speak or vote. However, they may exceptionally speak at the explicit request of the Chairman of the Jury. Deputy Leaders and Observers B may attend, as observers, meetings of the Jury held after the Contest.

6.2. Only Leaders may vote in the decisions of the Jury and each Leader will have one vote. A motion shall be carried by a simple majority of those voting. In the event of a tie, the Chairman will have a casting vote.

6.3. The Jury may appoint sub-committees to consider specific matters.

6.4. The meetings of the Jury will be conducted principally in English.

6.5. On or before each day of the Contest the Jury will approve the Contest problems selected by the Problem Selection Committee, or alternative problems if a problem proves to be already known, and will approve the translations of the Contest problems into all required languages (including the final English version).

6.6. The Jury will approve the marking schemes for each problem. Initial proposals for marking schemes will have been prepared under the direction of the Chief Coordinator.

6.7. On each day of the Contest, the Jury will consider written questions raised by Contestants during the first hour of the Contest and decide on replies.

6.8. After the Contest, the Jury will

  • receive and approve a report made by the Chief Invigilator on the conduct of the examinations;
  • receive a report from the Chief Coordinator on any unresolved disputes which may have arisen during coordination (as in sub-clause 7.4) and determine the appropriate scores;
  • approve the scores of all Contestants;
  • decide winners of first, second and third prizes;
  • consider and make decisions on all proposals to award special prizes;
  • consider matters raised about future EGMOs.

6.9. Any allegation or suspicion of a violation of the Regulations generally shall be reported to the Chairman of the Jury. If he considers there is a prima facie case, he will form a committee to investigate further. The committee will report its findings to the Jury. The Jury will decide whether a violation has occurred and, if it decides that one has, then it will decide what sanction, if any, to apply. Possible sanctions include the disqualification of an individual Contestant or an entire team from the competition. The decision of the Jury will be final.

7. Coordination

7.1. For each problem, each Contestant will receive an integer score out of a maximum of seven points.

7.2. Prior to coordination, Contestants’ solutions will be assessed by Leaders and Deputy Leaders in accordance with the marking schemes approved by the Jury.

7.3. Each coordination session will involve two Coordinators provided by the Host Organisation and representatives of the relevant country. Two representatives, normally the Leader and Deputy Leader, are permitted to participate actively in any one session. With the approval of the Coordinators, one further representative may be present to observe the coordination process but cannot take any active part in it.

7.4. The Leader and the designated Coordinators should agree on the scores for each Contestant. These scores will be recorded on official forms and signed by the Leader and the Coordinators. If the Leader and the Coordinators fail to agree on a score for a Contestant, the matter will first be referred to the Problem Captain for that problem, provided by the Host Organisation. If there is still no agreement, the matter will be referred to the Chief Coordinator. If the Leader and Chief Coordinator then fail to agree on a score, the Chief Coordinator will report the matter to the Jury with a recommendation as to what the score should be. The Jury will then determine the score.

7.5. If, during a coordination session, the designated Coordinators consider that an irregularity may have occurred, they will immediately refer the matter to the Chief Coordinator. Unless he is satisfied that there is no case to answer, he will report the situation to the Chairman of the Jury.

7.6. For each problem, solutions by Contestants from the host country will be coordinated by the Leader and Deputy Leader of the country that submitted the problem, with the assistance of the Problem Captain for that problem.

8. Entire Agreement and Understanding

8.1. The Participants and Observers acknowledge that these Regulations, and the documents referred to herein, constitute the full agreement and understanding of their parties and supersede any previous discussions or representations made by or on the behalf of the Host Organisation in respect of an EGMO.

9. Force Majeure

9.1. In these Regulations, “force majeure” shall mean any cause preventing the Host Organisation from performing any or all of its obligations that arises from or is attributable to acts, events, omissions or accidents beyond the reasonable control of the party so prevented, including without limitation strikes, lock-outs or other industrial disputes (whether involving the workforce of the party so prevented or of any other party), act of God, war, riot, civil commotion, malicious damage, compliance with any law or governmental order, rule, regulation or direction, accident, breakdown of plant or machinery, earthquake, typhoon, fire, flood, storm, or default of suppliers or sub-contractors.

9.2. If the Host Organisation is prevented from or delayed in performing any of its obligations to the Participants and Observers under these Regulations by force majeure, it will have no liability in respect of the performance of those obligations affected by the force majeure events, both during the continuation of such events and for such time after they cease as is necessary for the Host Organisation to recommence its affected operations in order for it to perform its obligations.

Annual Regulations

A.1. EGMO 2012 will be held in the United Kingdom from 10 April to 16 April 2012.

A.2. The Host Organisation for EGMO 2012 is the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust.

A.3. The Contest papers for EGMO 2012 will be held on 12 and 13 April 2012, so Contestants must have been born on or after 14 April 1992.

A.4. Applications for Observers to accompany the participants, specifying the number of Observers, must be made by 2 December 2011. If accepted, payment of £650 per Observer must be made in cleared funds by 13 March 2012.

A.5. The charge for participation by non-European countries will be £500 per Participant and £650 per Observer. Payment must be made in cleared funds by 13 March 2012.

A.6. The United Kingdom Mathematics Trust may reduce or waive the charges for Observers and for participation by non-European countries in particular cases.

A.7. Registration of Participants, Observers and their travel details must be completed by 6 March 2012.

A.8. The official arrival and departure sites are:

  • London Stansted Airport
  • London Luton Airport
  • London Heathrow Airport
  • London Gatwick Airport
  • St. Pancras International
  • Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, for Participants and Observers making their own travel arrangements within the UK.

A.9. Accommodation for Leaders, Deputy Leaders and Observers will be in single rooms. Accommodation for Contestants will be in shared rooms; accommodation in single rooms for Contestants is not available.

A.10. Proposals for problems must be sent to Dr G C Smith, Chair EGMO Problem Selection Committee, Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK to arrive by 16 December 2011.

EGMO website hosted by:

UKMT

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Andrew Evans Graphic Design