Indian National Mathematical Olympiad and some other science talent search and nurture programmes

Prof Mangesh Rege *

Information about some science talent search programmes follows:

1. The Science Olympiads.

National level olympiads in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and astronomy have been held in the country during the last three decades. While preliminary screening examinations for some of these olympiads have been conducted by agencies like IAPT ( the Indian Association of Physics Teachers ) the final selection of the teams to be sent to the corresponding International Olympiads is carried out at Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), Mumbai.

( For more information visit the HBCSE website at http://www.hbcse.tifr.res.in.)

2. The INMO programme.

The oldest Indian science olympiad is The Indian National Mathematical Olympiads (INMO), a prestigious programme sponsored by the Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, since 1986. Students from classes VIII to XII are eligible to appear for an INMO; no stereotype questions are asked in this four-hour examination, which is held in February each year.

The INMO activity culminates in the annual selection of Indian teams for sending to International Mathematical Olympiads ( IMOs ) after a month-long training programme which is held at HBCSE, Mumbai. ( Recent IMOs have been held in Greece, Spain and the Netherlands. )

Shillong is an INMO centre. INMO-2012, to be held on Feb. 5, 2012, is to be preceded by a week-long orientation programme for examinees to be held in NEHU campus, Shillong.

3. The Chennai mathematical Institute.

The Chennai Mathematical Institute ( CMI ) is a centre of excellence in mathematics, physics and computer science based in Tamilnadu. Eminent mathematicians Prof. C.S.Seshadri and Prof. Rajiv Karandikar have functioned as its directors during the last decade.

CMI holds admission tests for a B.Sc. (Hons.) programme in Mathematics and Computer Science in the last week of May every year.

There is considerable overlap between the syllabus of this test and the INMO syllabus. Hence studying hard towards appearing for INMOes will certainly help them in preparing for the CMI ( B.Sc. ) admission test.

Admission tests for B.Sc. ( Physics ), M.Sc. ( Mathematics/Computer Science ) and Ph. D. ( Mathematics/Physics/Computer Science ) are also held on the same day.

Scholarships ( to the tune of Rs. 5,000/- per month ) are awarded to all those admitted to the B.Sc. (Hons.) programme in Mathematics and Computer Science. ( Hostel expenses are nominal.)

Do visit the CMI website at http://www.cmi.ac.in for further information.

4. Special note.

Manipur students may be aware of the fact that there have been quite a few successes of the INMO programme from Manipur. Among those who benefited from an early detection of their mathematical talent through the INMO programme are

• Jayanta Manohar Mayum ( Ph.D. ( Cambridge );
  teaching assignment at Sheffield Univ., U.K. ),
• Aribam Chandrakant Sharma ( Ph.D. ( T.I.F.R. ); post-doc in Germany ) and
• Laishram Shanta Singh (Ph.D.( T.I.F.R. ); post-doc in Canada;
  at present at Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi.)