After months of remote learning, ANU students were eager to gather together to participate in the 4^th annual Simon Marais Mathematics Competition (SMMC) earlier this month.

MSI staff Griff Ware and Po Lam Yung facilitated the organisation of the ANU cohort which saw 33 students compete against students form 37 universities across the Asia-Pacific region.

“This competition offers students the unique option to work in pairs as well as individually” explains Griff. “For those who participate as pair entrants, the SMMC is a distinctive experience as far as most mathematics competitions go. Getting to work on problems and strategise as part of a pair introduces another level of complexity and interest”.

The SMMC is an annual competition for university students in the Asia-Pacific region.

It aims to encourage creative mathematical problem-solving among undergraduate students, identify talented students across the region, forge links between academics in the region, and promote healthy competition among students as well as between universities.

“Running an event in our building for the first time in many months was a refreshing experience after so long working almost exclusively online. It was great to be able to see our students in person, albeit in a socially distanced fashion. We feel like the competition is a nice way of forming a community of students interested in mathematical challenges. Students were excited to share with one another their attempts at the problems, after the competition” said Griff Ware.

“The SMMC has become a staple in the annual MSI calendar of activities. I’m very pleased that the competition went ahead this year despite the COVID-19 pandemic”.

Further information about the SMMC can be found on the Simon Marais Mathematics Competition website.