State competition mathematics Bavaria
The State Mathematics Competition in Bavaria (LWMB) has been an annual mathematics competition since 1998 , which is carried out in close consultation with the State Mathematics Competition in Baden-Württemberg . It is aimed at pupils in Bavarian secondary schools and grammar schools in the lower and middle grades up to and including the tenth grade and consists of two rounds of homework and a vacation seminar. The competition is directed by Albrecht Kliem.
First round
The first round begins at the beginning of the school year, i.e. in mid-September. Six tasks are set, of which a maximum of four can be worked on, whereby pupils who have not yet reached the tenth grade can freely choose their tasks, since the 12th LWMB in the school year 09/10, tenth graders can only not work on the first task, before that, the second task could not be completed either. Individual contributions and group work with up to three people are permitted; a declaration of independence must be signed. The closing date for submissions is different every year from early to mid-November, the results will be announced to schools at the end of December.
Up to four points can be awarded per task for the correction, whereby care is taken during the assessment that all steps leading to the finding of the result are listed and justified in the solution - a mathematical proof must therefore be provided. Since a maximum of four tasks are assessed in this round, you can achieve up to 16 points.
First (from 14 points), second (from 11 points) and third prizes (from 8 points) are awarded. Each participant usually gets a little math to do handicrafts or something similar. Prize winners also receive book prizes and certificates.
Second round
Only the first and second prize winners of the first round are allowed to participate in the second round. A maximum of three out of four tasks may be submitted. The tenth graders can also choose freely from these tasks, but group work is no longer permitted in this round. The submission deadline is usually mid to late February - the results will be announced at the end of March, whereby in this round, in addition to notifying the schools, the results are also sent to the participants themselves.
As in the first round, a maximum of four points are awarded per task, so the maximum number of points is 12 points.
In this round, there are no prizes to be won, but the participants will receive certificates and the 60 best participants (“state winners”) will also be invited to one of the two holiday seminars.
Vacation seminars
The two seminars (north and south seminars, depending on where the participants live), to which the 60 state winners are invited, are one-week and usually take place during the Easter holidays. The north seminar is usually located in Würzburg and is led by Albrecht Kliem and Robert Strich (formerly Claudia Steffen), the south seminar is usually in Riedenburg (formerly in Habischried ) and is supervised by Michael Giglberger and Barbara Götz. In the seminars, participants are given lectures on various mathematical topics and they have the opportunity to get to know other students with similar mathematical interests. The costs of the seminars and travel expenses are borne by the Ministry of Education.
Awards for schools
The overall best performing schools are also awarded, whereby the number of participating students, their performance and the size of the respective schools are used as evaluation criteria. They will be awarded cash prizes at a festive award event (1st prize: 1500 €; 2nd prize: 1250 €; 3rd prize: 1000 €), which should be used at the schools to further develop the mathematical activities there.
Quod Erat Demonstrandum e. V.
Former participants of the holiday seminars founded the non-profit Quod Erat Demonstrandum e. V. to organize further meetings at which there are lectures on mathematical topics. The association currently has around 400 members who hold an average of four seminars and one summer academy per year.
In October 2009, the association was awarded the first Karg Prize , which is endowed with € 50,000 and is intended to further promote gifted children.