‘OBMEP was essential for me to be at IMPA Tech’, says undergraduate student

19/04/2024

The main gateway to IMPA Tech is the performance of candidates in knowledge olympiads, such as OBMEP (Brazilian Public School Mathematics Olympiad). Promoted by IMPA, the country’s largest scientific competition has reached its 19th edition, breaking new records. The largest number of schools, with 56,513 participating institutions, and the incredible mark of 5,564 cities – which represents coverage of 99.9% of Brazilian municipalities. A total of 18.5 million students from the 6th grade of elementary school to the 3rd grade of high school took part in OBMEP this year.

In the first IMPA Tech class, 80% of the students entered through their results in the Olympiads. In addition to the OBMEP, the process also accepted math scores from the ENEM (National High School Exam) and performance in certain categories of other knowledge olympiads, such as OBM (Brazilian Math Olympiad), OBF (Brazilian Physics Olympiad), OBQ (Brazilian Chemistry Olympiad) and OBI (Brazilian Informatics Olympiad).

Maira Araújo, an OBMEP multimedalist, came from Caratinga (MG) to study in Rio. “I found my way through OBMEP! Through it I delved deeper into mathematics and met people with similar tastes. It was essential in many ways for me to be at IMPA Tech today,” she said. Maira has accumulated awards since she started taking part in the Olympiad in the 6th grade of elementary school. In all, she has 4 silver medals and 3 bronze medals.

Beatriz Nunes is also a student who came from the Olympics, and won a silver medal at OBMEP during high school in Acre. “Participating in OBMEP was a unique experience that enabled me not only to improve my performance in my studies and in mathematics, but also to enter IMPA Tech. I’m grateful for this opportunity and I’m sure I’ll evolve and enter the job market with an excellent education,” she said.

19th edition of OBMEP 2024

This year, the OBMEP exams will be held on June 4 (1st phase) and October 19 (2nd phase). The winners will be announced on December 20. Winners of the national gold, silver or bronze medals are guaranteed entry into the PIC (Jr Scientific Initiation Program), which offers advanced mathematics classes and a R$300 grant for students from public schools who are part of the program.

The Olympiad will hand out 8,450 national medals, 650 of which will be gold, 1,950 silver and 5,850 bronze, as well as 51,000 honorable mention certificates. To encourage more and more student participation, the Olympiad will also reward students with the best state performance. At least 20,500 state medals will be distributed. It is important to note that the state awards do not give access to the PIC.

Created by IMPA in 2005, OBMEP is promoted with funds from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and the Ministry of Education (MEC). The competition helps to stimulate the study of mathematics in Brazil, identify talented young people and promote social inclusion through the dissemination of knowledge. Find out more about the initiative on the Olympiad website.

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