Lula attends OBMEP awards ceremony on Tuesday (11) in Rio

10/06/2024

Rio de Janeiro will host the OBMEP (Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad for Public Schools) National Awards Ceremony next Tuesday (11). OBMEP (Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad for Public Schools). Promoted by IMPA, the country’s largest scientific competition brings together more than 18 million participants every year. In all, 650 are awarded the gold medal and receive the honor at a special ceremony attended by the President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The ministers Camilo Santana (Education) and Luciana Santos (Science, Technology and Innovation), the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, and the governor, Cláudio Castro, will also take part in the ceremony on Tuesday (11), at 3.30pm, in Barra da Tijuca, in the west of the city.

“The OBMEP national awards ceremony celebrates the talent present in every corner of this continental country, in an exciting celebration that culminates another cycle of the Olympiad,” says IMPA’s director-general, Marcelo Viana.

The 18th edition had more than 18.3 million participants, from the 6th year of elementary school to the 3rd year of secondary school, from 55,300 public and private schools in 99.8% of Brazilian municipalities.

The awards ceremony is the most eagerly awaited event for students who have excelled in the competition. The OBMEP organization organizes the logistics to bring the gold medalists to the ceremony and give them a unique experience. After six years in other cities, the event is returning to Rio de Janeiro, where IMPA is based. The students arrived on Sunday (9) to take part in activities, lectures and prize draws.

Nine students from IMPA Tech, IMPA’s undergraduate program, will be among those awarded OBMEP gold. Inaugurated this year, the selection process takes into account performance in knowledge Olympiads. Born in Cocal dos Alves, in the interior of Piauí, Alex Vieira is studying for his bachelor’s degree thanks to his performance in the competition. “OBMEP was fundamental for me to start liking mathematics and wanting to learn more.”

In addition to the 650 national gold medals handed out at the ceremony, the 18th OBMEP has already distributed 1,950 silver medals, 5,850 national bronze medals and 48,163 honorable mentions at regional ceremonies. OBMEP national medal winners are invited to take part in the Scientific Initiation Program (PIC Jr.) to encourage and promote academic development. The initiative offers a R$300 grant to students from public schools who take part in the program.

About OBMEP

Created by the Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics (IMPA) and held with the support of the Brazilian Mathematical Society (SBM), the competition is promoted with funds from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) and the Ministry of Education (MEC).

Aimed at students from the 6th year of primary school to the 3rd year of secondary school, OBMEP helps to stimulate the study of mathematics and identify young talents in the subject. Other objectives of the initiative are to promote social inclusion through the dissemination of knowledge and to contribute to improving the quality of basic education, enabling a greater number of Brazilian students to access quality teaching material.

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