UBC JOINS PRESTIGIOUS NATIONAL MATH COMPETITION

OTTAWA, Ontario — The Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS) is pleased to announce that the University of British Columbia (UBC) is joining the unique national math competition partnership for the Sun Life Financial Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge (COMC), Canada's premier competition for high school students. UBC is joining four other university partners to host and develop the COMC and to provide both students and teachers a more accessible and interesting competition.

"The UBC partnership is an important development for the COMC that allows us to build on their significant provincial student outreach and math competition expertise," said Bill Sands, Chair of the CMS Competitions Committee. "It also gives us a direct presence in the province and helps us better understand what British Columbia students and teachers are interested in.”

“For UBC this is an exciting opportunity to be a part of Canada’s best national math competition, where British Columbia students have historically scored very well” noted UBC Professor George Bluman. “Our students are looking for a well conceived and engaging competition and that pretty well describes the COMC.”

The CMS is building partnerships with universities across Canada to help stage and develop the COMC, which, starting in 2011 was given broader and more accessible problems as well as an improved ‘best in class’ awards structure to highlight student excellence. In 2011, British Columbia students received 25 COMC awards, 42 Honour Roll citations and 117 prizes; in addition, 38 students were invited to write the more advanced CMS Repêchage and Canadian Mathematical Olympiad (CMO) competitions.

With title sponsorship from Sun Life Financial, the COMC, Repêchage and the CMO are Canada's prestigious national math competitions that lead to the CMS selection of students for Math Team Canada to compete in the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO).

About the Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS)

The CMS is the national mathematics organization whose goal is to promote the advancement, discovery, learning, and application of mathematics. The Society's activities cover the whole spectrum of mathematics including: scientific meetings, research publications, and the promotion of excellence in mathematics education at all levels. The CMS annually sponsors mathematics competitions that recognize outstanding student achievements.