Alibaba Group’s global mathematics competition recently opened for applications, calling math enthusiasts and developers worldwide to join and solve math challenges. There is no entry requirement or admission fee. Interested participants can visit this website to register for the competition: https://damo.alibaba.com/alibaba-global-mathematics-competition?language=en.
Math enthusiasts from all backgrounds can register from this week until early April 11, 2024, on the website of Alibaba’s research institute DAMO Academy. Entrants must pass a preliminary round based on real-world math problems before reaching the final, which tests foundational math skills across five subject areas, all conducted online.
This year, the competition will, for the first time, include a track for AI models where individual developers, academic institutes, and AI startups from all backgrounds can participate. In the preliminary round, they can tap any large language models to solve the math problems in under 48 hours.
The judging panel will then evaluate the answers based on the models’ innovation, logic, and efficiency in solving the mathematical challenges. The winner in the AI model track can win a prize of $10,000.
The preliminary round will occur between April 13 to 15, 2024 and the final round is slated for June 22, 2024.
The top five scorers in the final round will be crowned with gold awards and a grand prize of $30,000 each. Ten silver winners will each claim $15,000 in prize money, while 20 bronze award winners will each receive $8000.
Qualifying Round
Format: Online, Individual Competition
Type of Questions: Multiple Choice, Proof Question
Date and Time:
Start: 8:00 AM April 13, 2024 (Saturday) Beijing Time / 8:00 PM April 12, 2024 (Friday) Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)
End: 8:00 AM April 15, 2024 (Monday) Beijing Time / 8:00 PM April 14, 2024 (Sunday) Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)
Duration: 48 hours
Language: The questions will be provided in both Chinese and English, and participants may use either language to answer them.
Competition Rules:
- The qualifying round is a single stage, with the final round participants determined by their scores. The list of finalists will be announced in early June, along with details for the finals. Stay tuned!
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This round is open book, allowing the consultation of online/offline resources and the use of programming software for solving problems.
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Discussing with others, sharing questions, and any form of cheating are strictly prohibited.
Practice Round: To help participants familiarize themselves with the online answering system, a non-graded practice round will be available from March 25 to March 31, 2024. The scores from this round will not count towards the qualifying round or final awards.
AI Challenge: AI participation is permitted in the qualifying round. After registration, participants can begin training models or designing prompts, which must be submitted to the organizing committee by midnight, April 12, 2024, to finalize their approach. AI participants must use their AI to answer questions within 48 hours of the exam’s start and submit human-readable answers in the exam system. Scoring will consider the AI’s understanding, logical problem-solving process, and creativity. For full rules and FAQs, please click here.
Past Question and Manual: To assist participants in becoming more acquainted with the scope of the competition, the organizing committee has compiled questions and answers from the previous five qualifying rounds. These can be found in the “Past Reviews” section of the competition introduction for each year on the official website. This year, we are also publishing the “Alibaba Mathematics Competition Question Manual”, analyzing representative questions from past finals to provide deeper insights into the competition’s philosophy and areas of focus. The manual is expected to be released on the official website in early June.
Final Round
Date and Time:
Start: 8:00 AM June 22, 2024 (Saturday) Beijing Time / 8:00 PM June 21, 2024 (Friday) Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)
End: 11:59 PM June 22, 2024 (Saturday) Beijing Time / 11:59 AM June 22, 2024 (Saturday) Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)
Participants may choose any continuous 8-hour window within this period to complete their participation in the final round.
Format: Online, Individual Competition
Type of Questions：Problem-Solving, Proof Questions
Tracks:
– Algebra & Number Theory
– Geometry & Topology
– Analysis & Differential Equations
– Combinatorics & Probability
– Applied & Computational Mathematics
Topics covered in the final round:
– Algebra & Number Theory: Abstract Algebra, Algebraic Number Theory, Commutative Algebra, Groups and Representation Theory.
– Geometry & Topology: Algebraic Topology, Differential Topology, Manifolds and Lie Groups, Riemannian Geometry.
– Analysis & Differential Equations: Harmonic Analysis, Elliptic Equations, Complex Analysis, Real Analysis.
– Combinatorics & Probability: Extremal/Probabilistic/Algebraic Combinatorics, Graph Theory, Discrete Geometry, Probability Theory and Stochastic Processes, Operations Research and Combinatorial Optimization, Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science.
– Applied & Computational Mathematics: Ordinary Differential Equations, Partial Differential Equations, Optimization Methods, Numerical Linear Algebra, Numerical Analysis, Machine Learning.
Competition Rules:
- The final round is divided into five tracks: Algebra and Number Theory, Geometry and Topology, Analysis and Differential Equations, Combinatorics and Probability, and Applied and Computational Mathematics. Participants must select one track to access the question interface (Note: Once a track is chosen, it cannot be changed). Each track includes six questions, with awards based on participants’ scores.
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The final round is a closed-book exam. The use of reference materials or computational software is not allowed.
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Participants are expected to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity, completing all questions independently. Cheating, discussing with others, or sharing questions during the competition is strictly prohibited.
Award
· Gold Award: 5 winners, $30,000 per person
· Silver Award: 10 winners, $15,000 per person
· Bronze Award: 20 winners, $8,000 per person
· Honorable Mention: 50 winners, $2,000 per person
Awards will be determined based on the final round scores.
