ETH Math Youth Academy
The ETH Math Youth Academy, established in 2015, is a joint project of the Department of Mathematics and external pageSwissMAPcall_made. It is specially designed for Gymnasium students, age 13 or above who want to engage in creative thinking and to delve deeper into exciting mathematics. The regular weekly classes are in the form of mini-courses on various extracurricular topics.
Courses Spring 2024
Students can join any time during the school year. To register, please send an email to and include your name, school, number of years left in Gymnasium (counting the current year), and how you heard about the programme.
Main class
- Wednesdays
- 18:15–20:00
- Room: HG D 5.2
- No class on 24.04, 01.05. (holidays in canton Zurich)
More information about the programme
Objectives
The ETH Math Youth Academy is an ambitious long-term project especially designed for Gymnasium students (age 13 or above) who like mathematics and want to delve deeper into its exciting world. The regular weekly sessions take place at ETH Zentrum and treat various topics that go beyond the regular Gymnasium curriculum.
Even though Switzerland is best in Europe in terms of the general quality of mathematical education in school and the level of the students is homogeneously very high, opportunities for the enthusiastic students to reach a level beyond the standard mathematical curriculum do not abound, at least in comparison to other countries (in Eastern Europe or the US, for instance). Our goal is to close this gap by providing students with such opportunities.
Topics outside the regular curriculum
The focus is on creative, out-of-the-box thinking and on rigorous proofs. The treated topics are not part of the regular Gymnasium or university curriculum and are not relevant for exams in school. Instead, the classes can lead to participation in mathematical Olympiads and can inspire various projects. Students will gain momentum for further university pursuits in technical disciplines. Just as a student who likes music can play in an orchestra outside of school, a student who likes mathematics is welcome to attend our programme.
Prerequisits
Participation is free of charge. There are absolutely no specific prerequisites besides being comfortable with the standard school material and having the interest and motivation to come to ETH Zurich for two hours of extra mathematics a week. The classes are fun, friendly, and intellectually stimulating. The language of instruction is English.
Organization of classes
The classes are organized in the form of mini-courses on various topics, each one starting completely from scratch and reaching interesting and challenging problems. In this way, students can attend as often as their schedules allow.
There are also separate intermediate and advanced classes. It is therefore possible for a student to attend the programme over the course of several years.
Current situation
About 40 enthusiastic students currently attend the programme, without formal credit or grades, but just for personal enrichment and academic satisfaction. Most of them are from Zurich, but some commute from Wetzikon, Zug, Luzerne, or even Solothurn or Romanshorn in order to attend the classes. We are pleased that the engineers and scientists of the next generation have such a zeal for challenging mathematics already during years in school.
2023
- At the International Mathematical Olympiad, Mathys Douma wins a gold medal, Bora Olmez and Felix Xu win bronze medals.
- At the Middle European Mathematical Olympiad, Mark Neumann wins a silver medal and Louis Renner wins an honourable mention.
- At the European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad, Lena Libort wins an honourable mention.
2022
- At the International Mathematical Olympiad, Mathys Douma, Bora Olmez, and Ricardo Olivo win bronze medals.
- At the Middle European Mathematical Olympiad, Evelyn Ebneter wins a bronze medal.
- At the European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad, Evelyn Ebneter wins an honourable mention.
2021
- At the International Mathematical Olympiad, Joël Huber and Bora Olmez win bronze medals.
- At the Middle European Mathematical Olympiad, Ricardo Olivo wins a bronze medal.
- At the European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad, Ema Skottova wins a bronze medal.
2020
- At the International Mathematical Olympiad, Joël Huber wins a bronze medal.
- At the Middle European Mathematical Olympiad, Ema Skottova, Ricardo Olivo, and Bora Olmez win honourable mentions.
- At the European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad, Ema Skottova wins a bronze medal.
Presentations by students
- Joël Huber, "Let's solve some weird functional equation!" external pageVideocall_made
- Ema Skottova, "P6 Combinatorics Final Round SMO 2020" external pageVideocall_made
- Bora Olmez, "Swiss IMO Selection 2020 P8" external pageVideocall_made
- Ricardo Olivo, "International Math Olympiad 1992 P2" external pageVideocall_made
The ETH Math Youth Academy was featured in an interview for the D-MATH News.
The 2023 issue of the annual external pageSwissMAP Perspectives Journalcall_made highlights national outreach activities and features Downloadcomments of students (PDF, 297 KB)vertical_align_bottom participating in the ETH Math Youth Academy.
This Downloadarticle (PDF, 709 KB)vertical_align_bottom in the Bulletin of the VSMP, Issue 131, has been addressed specifically to mathematics teachers and includes a full detailed class sample, giving readers a concrete idea of how a class at the ETH Math Youth Academy looks like.
The project was featured at ETH News: Creative proofs with pigeons and boxes.
The following Downloadone-page article (PDF, 55 KB)vertical_align_bottom has been written for the European Mathematical Society Newsletter and is addressed to the entire mathematical community in Europe.
This external pageinterview (Russian)call_made was published in the Russian-language Swiss newspaper Nasha Gazeta and is also available as an unofficial Downloadtranslation to English (PDF, 82 KB)vertical_align_bottom.
Parallel to the weekly classes, we have launched an initiative for giving public talks at various Gymnasiums in Switzerland, emphasizing the aesthetic side of mathematics. We would love to communicate some of the most beautiful pieces of mathematics and to present them in an elementary and accessible way. These talks are designed for a broad general student audience. We are looking forward to further invitations.
Visited Schools
27.10.2015: Literargymnasium Rämibühl, Zurich
- Mathematical Induction: external pagevideocall_made
07.04.2016: Kantonsschule Baden
- Mathematical Games: external pagevideocall_made, Downloadslides (PDF, 350 KB)vertical_align_bottom
31.09.2016: Realgymnasium Rämibühl, Zurich
- Mathematical Colorings
09.02.2017: Kantonsschule Enge, Zurich
- Algebra, Geomtery and Pythagorean Triples: external pagevideocall_made, Downloadslides (PDF, 381 KB)vertical_align_bottom
- Mathematical Colorings: external pagevideocall_made, Downloadslides (PDF, 291 KB)vertical_align_bottom
- The Extreme Element Principle: external pagevideocall_made, Downloadslides (PDF, 459 KB)vertical_align_bottom
06.09.2017: Information days, ETH Zurich
- Patterns in plane drawings: Euler's formula: video
07.09.2017: Information days, ETH Zurich
- From integers to reals: a walk in the world of numbers: video
02.02.2018: Kollegium Spiritus Sanctus, Brig
- Have a second perspective. Double counting: external pagevideocall_made
08.05.2018: Kantonsschule Solothurn
- Pick's formula
05.09.2018: Information days, ETH Zurich
- The answer is ... 1,2,5,14,42,...: video
25.06.2019 Hull's school
- Pick's formula: external pagevideocall_made
04.09.2019: Information days, ETH Zurich
- From clock arithmetic to Diophantine equations: video
05.09.2019: Information days, ETH Zurich
- The second root of the quadratic equation: video
08.09.2022: Information days, ETH Zurich
- Algebraic geometry and Pythagorean triples: external pagevideocall_made
Talk: Diffie-Hellman key exchange
Is it possible for two parties to establish a common secret, if they are only allowed to interact through an insecure channel? The talk is fully accessible to advanced high school students, who are familiar with elementary number theory (specifically with modular arithmetic). external pageVideocall_made
YouTube channel
Some of the talks are also available on our external pageYouTube channelcall_made.
External links
- external page call_made Swiss Math Olympiad (German)
- external page call_made Junior Euler Society (German)
- external page call_made Euler Course at EPFL (French)
- external page call_made Club de Math de Genève (French)
- chevron_right MINT Lernzentrum (German)
- chevron_right Ausbildungs- und Beratungszentrum für Informatikunterricht (ABZ) (German)
- external page call_made Mathematical Kangaroo (German)
- chevron_right goMATH Girls' Circle (German)
- external page call_made Náboj (German)