Anyone can participate in the MATH+ Advent Calendar. The puzzles are intended for high school students, teachers, university students, and everyone else interested.
The challenges are open to read and download (as PDF) for everyone. If you would like to being able to submit your solutions and vote for the best challenge and image, you need to register for an user account with a nickname, password, and a legitimate email address. Further information will be necessary if you want to take part in the contest; see “Contest Eligibility (for Individual Players)”.
The registration is free of charge and possible from 1 November until 28 December.
Daily, from 1 to 23 December, one mathematical challenge will be published on this webpage at 4pm (CET). The challenge on 24 December will be published at 10am (CET). The challenges are multiple choice tasks with ten given answers. Exactly one of these given answers is correct.
The MATH+ Advent Calendar team ensures that all tasks are suitable for 10th graders, i. e. no mathematical background that is taught later on in school or even university will be required.
For each challenge, ten answers are given. In order to submit a solution, you have to be logged-in. The submission deadline for the last challenge is 28 December, at 11:59:59pm (CET). However, you will be awarded points for correct answers according to the time of submission or last modification, respectively.
Depending on when you submit your solutions, you will be awarded points according to the time of your submission or last modification, respectively.
On weekdays (i. e. Mon to Fri), the following applies:
| Points for correctly submitted answers | Time of submission / last modification |
|---|---|
| 5 | Within the first 24 hours after publication |
| 3 | Within the first 48 hours after publication |
| 1 | Within the first 1 week after publication |
On weekends (i. e. Sat and Sun), the following applies:
| Points for correctly submitted answers | Time of submission / last modification |
|---|---|
| 5 | By 16:00:00 pm (CET) on the first Tuesday after publication |
| 3 | By 16:00:00 pm (CET) on the first Wednesday after publication |
| 1 | By 16:00:00 pm (CET) on second Monday after publication |
On 24 December, the following applies:
| Points for correctly submitted answers | Time of submission / last modification |
|---|---|
| 5 | By 16:00:00 pm (CET) on 27 December |
| 3 | By 16:00:00 pm (CET) on 28 December |
| 1 | By 11:59:59 pm (CET) on 29 December |
Deviating terms will be published with the respective challenges.
The correct solutions will be published after the contest.
Anyone is allowed to participate in the competition with only one user account. Each individual having truthfully completed all mandatory entry fields in their profile is eligible to participate in the competition. There are four status groups applicable:
| Status | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| (1) Students | (1a) Last year of high school | Any student in their last year of secondary school before receiving a college/university entrance certificate |
| (1b) Second to last year of high school | Any student in their second to last year of secondary school before receiving a college/university entrance certificate | |
| (1c) Other Students | Any other student in a primary or secondary school that offers a formal education | |
| (2) University students | Students in a higher/tertiary education, e. g. in colleges, universities | |
| (3) Teachers | Teachers at a primary or secondary school that offers a formal education | |
| (4) Others | Adults, students of adult educational programs, and any person not matching the descriptions above |
Prizes will be awarded among the eligible participants of the competiton. All prizes will be awarded by drawing lots, where the number of lots in a category corresponds to the number of points acquired by solving the challenges.
The main prizes will be awarded among the students in status group (1), which includes all students from groups (1a), (1b) and (1c), with more than 95 points.
In addition, there are three winning categories for students in group (1a), (1b), and (1c), respectively, and one winning category for status groups (2), (3), and (4).
Employees of MATH+ and their family members are not eligible to win prizes.
The competition is not subject to legal recourse.
As teacher, i. e. a person in status group (3), you may participate with your class or course in the class contest. After successfully registering as a “teacher” and completing the mandatory information in the entry form, you are able to add your class(es) or course(s). For each class/course, you will receive a class contest code, with which your students can enroll in this particular class/course. To be able to enroll in a class/course, the students need to register as a “student” (i. e. as status group (1a), (1b), or (1c)) and complete the mandatory entries in the information form.
Each class consisting of at least five properly registered students takes part in the class contest. The number of points appointed to each class is the arithmetic mean of the points acquired by the students in the class. In case of a draw of points, the class with the higher number of participants will be ranked higher. In case of a draw of points and number of participants, lots will be drawn.
With your/their individually acquired points, you and your students will also take part in the individual contest. However, only your students points count for the class contest.
All registered participants have access to the discussion board. Here, the authors of the 24 challenges and the members of the MATH+ Advent Calendar team are happy to answer your questions regarding the understanding and possible ambiguities of the challenges. The discussion board will be moderated by the MATH+ Advent Calendar team. It will be supervised during the following times: Mon-Fri: 4-8pm (CET), Sat-Sun: 4-6pm (CET).
Out of these times, the discussion board will only be moderated irregulary. Deviating terms will be published with the respective challenges.
Until the submission deadline for a challenge has passed, the discussion board is not intended to give you hints or answer questions regarding the solution or solution path. Additionally, during this time period, the board does not serve as a platform for discussing (parts of) solutions with one another or to join in groups with other participants. After it is no longer possible to submit solutions to a challenge, there will be an oppurtunity to discuss you solutions with others on the discussion board.
We ask our participants to adhere to the internet’s code of conduct. Most importantly, discriminatory, hostile or intimidating messages or language will not be tolerated, whether they are based on a person’s race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, social or economic class, educational level, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, size, family status, political belief, religion, or mental or physical ability.
Furthermore, in order to avoid spoiling a fair competition and a challenging game for everyone, it is not allowed to hint on any part of the solutions during the time of submitting solutions to a challenge.
Any violation of these rules may lead to an expulsion from the discussion board and the competition.
Neither the challenges of the MATH+ Advent Calendar nor their official solutions are to be published elsewhere.
Until the submission deadline for a challenge has passed, the distribution of any part of the solution to the MATH+ Advent Calendar challenge on the discussion board or elsewhere is prohibited. Furthermore, it is not allowed to give any hints or clues.
We ask our participants to adhere to the internet’s code of conduct. Most importantly, discriminatory, hostile or intimidating messages or language will not be tolerated, whether they are based on a person’s race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, social or economic class, educational level, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, size, family status, political belief, religion, or mental or physical ability.
It is not allowed to register with multiple user accounts.
Any violation of the rules above may lead to an expulsion from the discussion board and the competition.