Students participating in PiMA 2024 from nearly 20 provinces and cities across the country - Photo: NVCC
This PiMA summer camp is exclusively for high school students. The program takes place over a week at the University of Natural Sciences (Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City).
The program covers all costs for participants and attracts students from all over the country to register.
Starting with scholarship money
In 2016, PiMA was started by the idea of former IMO gold medalist Can Tran Thanh Trung (29 years old). After winning gold at IMO, Trung received a full scholarship to Duke University (USA) and spent part of his annual scholarship to start the PiMA summer camp. Right from the first year, students nationwide with a passion for math can register and receive scholarships to attend PiMA.
After two years, the group sought additional funding and received support. Many teachers from the University of Natural Sciences, philanthropists passionate about Vietnamese mathematics, and parents whose children had participated in PiMA all contributed to the program.
"This year, there are even former campers who have returned to work to contribute to PiMA" - Dr. Can Tran Thanh Trung - who has now returned to Vietnam to work as a lecturer at the University of Natural Sciences (Ho Chi Minh City National University) - shared.
Tran Hoang Bao Linh - former IMO 2012 silver medalist, currently a PhD student at Yale University (USA), co-founder of PiMA - shared that in Vietnam, students are always assessed to have potential in mathematics, but the curriculum they access is still theoretical and dry. On the contrary, if they are exposed to updated mathematical models, they will broaden their understanding and vision of mathematics, thereby shaping their career path early on.
According to Mr. Bao Linh, the difficulty in maintaining a summer camp like PiMA is not the budget but how to get former campers to participate in supporting the next generation. To do so, each previous generation must inspire and create opportunities for those who organize it in the following years.
For example, at PiMA 2024, Tran Phan Anh Danh - currently a student at Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), a former national physics student of 2022 - is ready to return home to motivate his juniors. In 2021, Anh Danh participated in PiMA online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the lectures from former IMO contestants that year ignited Anh Danh's passion for mathematics. Many online sharing sessions lasted until midnight.
"In addition to mathematics, campers also learn about the university environment in advance to have suitable study paths for themselves. This year, they asked me a lot about studying at university in Singapore, the differences between studying in Singapore and studying in Vietnam, and math-related majors in Singapore... I want to inspire them the way I was inspired before," said Anh Danh.
Being exposed to graduate students, listening to people who are applying mathematics, leading professors... will give you many different perspectives on mathematics compared to high school.
Tran Hoang Bao Linh (former IMO 2012 silver medalist, PhD student at Yale University - USA)
New math knowledge
Nguyen Hoang Khang - valedictorian of the University of Natural Sciences (Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City) in 2023, preparing to pursue graduate studies at the University of California, Los Angeles - shared that each year the summer camp will choose an interesting topic. Students participating can learn new perspectives on mathematics, different from the problems they learn in high school. This year's topic is linear programming - part of a larger model called optimization mathematics.
"These mathematical model studies were still being researched until the year 2000. Therefore, students will have access to very new knowledge. The knowledge is very practical, used to solve problems of optimizing performance, costs in production, transportation... so you will find that mathematics is not boring at all" - Nguyen Hoang Khang said.
According to Hoang Khang, university-level knowledge will be presented in an easy-to-understand manner for high school students. Each summer camp is usually divided into two phases. First, students learn theoretical knowledge, then apply this knowledge to practical projects.
This year, knowledge of linear programming is used by students in many projects such as game probability, financial optimization, stock investment... Between the two phases are field trips to units that are researching mathematical applications in Ho Chi Minh City.
Inspiration to pursue mathematics
In 2024, PiMA was held from July 21 to July 28, attracting students from nearly 20 provinces and cities across the country. For many students, this was the first time they had been to a big city and experienced activities inside a university.
Tran Le Diem Quynh - an 11th grade student at Quang Tri High School, a student participating in PiMA 2024 - confided that she has loved math since she was a child and wanted to major in math at university, but did not know if it was suitable or not.
A week of summer camp helped Quynh get rid of many invisible fears and found that she could completely understand new math knowledge at university level. "The lectures of the teachers on AI and data science suggested me further directions for applying math in the future," Quynh said.
Pham Quoc Binh - a former student of Thong Nhat High School (Dong Nai), registered for the Mathematics and Information Technology major in the 2024 admissions - said that this summer camp trip marked his transition from high school to university. Meeting friends and seniors who share the same passion for mathematics inspired him to pursue this major.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/trai-he-dac-biet-cua-nhung-co-cau-tro-me-toan-20240802090941345.htm
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