ETH Math Youth Academy
TheETH Math Youth Academy,established in 2015, is ajoint projectof the Department of Mathematics andexternal pageSwissMAPcall_made. It isspecially designed forGymnasiumstudents, age 13 or above who want to engage in creative thinking and to delve deeper into exciting mathematics. The regular weekly classes are in the form of mini-courses on various extracurricular topics.DownloadInformation poster (PDF, 332 KB)vertical_align_bottom
Courses Spring 2023
Students can join any time during the school year. To register, please send an email toand include your name, school, number of years left in Gymnasium (counting the current year), and how you heard about the programme.
More information about the programme
目标
The ETH Math Youth Academy is an ambitious long-term project especially designed forGymnasiumstudents (age 13 or above) who like mathematics and want to delve deeper into its exciting world. The regular weekly sessions take place at ETH Zentrum and treat various topics that go beyond the regularGymnasiumcurriculum.
尽管瑞士在欧洲而言是最好的of the general quality of mathematical education in school and the level of the students is homogeneously very high, opportunities for the enthusiastic students to reach a level beyond the standard mathematical curriculum do not abound, at least in comparison to other countries (in Eastern Europe or the US, for instance). Our goal is to close this gap by providing students with such opportunities.
Topics outside the regular curriculum
The focus is on creative, out-of-the-box thinking and on rigorous proofs. The treated topics are not part of the regularGymnasiumor university curriculum and are not relevant for exams in school. Instead, the classes can lead to participation in mathematical Olympiads and can inspire various projects. Students will gainmomentumfor further university pursuits in technical disciplines. Just as a student who likes music can play in an orchestra outside of school, a student who likes mathematics is welcome to attend our programme.
Prerequisits
Participation is free of charge. There are absolutely no specific prerequisites besides being comfortable with the standard school material and having the interest and motivation to come to ETH Zurich for two hours of extra mathematics a week. The classes are fun, friendly, and intellectually stimulating. The language of instruction is English.
Organization of classes
The classes are organized in the form of mini-courses on various topics, each one starting completely from scratch and reaching interesting and challenging problems. In this way, students can attend as often as their schedules allow.
There are also separate intermediate and advanced classes. It is therefore possible for a student to attend the programme over the course of several years.
Current situation
About 40 enthusiastic students currently attend the programme, without formal credit or grades, but just for personal enrichment and academic satisfaction. Most of them are from Zurich, but some commute from Wetzikon, Zug, Luzerne, or even Solothurn or Romanshorn in order to attend the classes. We are pleased that the engineers and scientists of the next generation have such a zeal for challenging mathematics already during years in school.
ThisDownloadarticle (PDF, 709 KB)vertical_align_bottomin the Bulletin of the VSMP, Issue 131, has been addressed specifically to mathematics teachers and includes a full detailed class sample, giving readers a concrete idea of how a class at the ETH Math Youth Academy looks like.
The project was featured at ETH News:Creative proofs with pigeons and boxes.
The followingDownloadone-page article (PDF, 55 KB)vertical_align_bottomhas been written for the European Mathematical Society Newsletter and is addressed to the entire mathematical community in Europe.
Thisexternal pageinterview (Russian)call_madewas published in the Russian-language Swiss newspaper Nasha Gazeta and is also available as an unofficialDownload翻译英语PDF, 82 KB)vertical_align_bottom.
Parallel to the weekly classes, we have launched an initiative for giving public talks at variousGymnasiumsin Switzerland, emphasizing the aesthetic side of mathematics. We would love to communicate some of the most beautiful pieces of mathematics and to present them in an elementary and accessible way. These talks are designed for a broad general student audience. We are looking forward to further invitations.
Visited Schools
27.10.2015:Literargymnasium Rämibühl, Zurich
- Mathematical Induction:
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07.04.2016:Kantonsschule Baden
- Mathematical Games:
external pagevideocall_made,Downloadslides (PDF, 350 KB)vertical_align_bottom
31.09.2016:Realgymnasium Rämibühl, Zurich
- Mathematical Colorings
09.02.2017:Kantonsschule Enge, Zurich
- Algebra, Geomtery and Pythagorean Triples:
external pagevideocall_made,Downloadslides (PDF, 381 KB)vertical_align_bottom - Mathematical Colorings:
external pagevideocall_made,Downloadslides (PDF, 291 KB)vertical_align_bottom - The Extreme Element Principle:
external pagevideocall_made,Downloadslides (PDF, 459 KB)vertical_align_bottom
06.09.2017:Information days, ETH Zurich
- Patterns in plane drawings: Euler's formula:
video
07.09.2017:Information days, ETH Zurich
- From integers to reals: a walk in the world of numbers:
video
02.02.2018:Kollegium Spiritus Sanctus, Brig
- Have a second perspective. Double counting:
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08.05.2018:Kantonsschule Solothurn
- Pick's formula
05.09.2018:Information days, ETH Zurich
- The answer is ... 1,2,5,14,42,...
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25.06.2019Hull's school
- Pick's formula
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04.09.2019:Information days, ETH Zurich
- From clock arithmetic to Diophantine equations
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05.09.2019:Information days, ETH Zurich
- The second root of the quadratic equation
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08.09.2022:Information days, ETH Zurich
- Algebraic geometry and Pythagorean triples
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Talk: Diffie-Hellman key exchange
Is it possible for two parties to establish a common secret, if they are only allowed to interact through an insecure channel? The talk is fully accessible to advanced high school students, who are familiar with elementary number theory (specifically with modular arithmetic).external pageVideocall_made
YouTube channel
Some of the talks are also available on ourexternal pageYouTube channelcall_made.
External links
- external pagecall_madeSwiss Math Olympiad (German)
- external pagecall_madeMathematical Kangaroo (German)
- external pagecall_madeJunior Euler Society (German)
- external pagecall_madeEuler Course at EPFL (French)
- external pagecall_madeClub de Math de Genève (French)
- internal pagechevron_rightMINT Lernzentrum (German)
- internal pagechevron_rightAusbildungs- und Beratungszentrum für Informatikunterricht (ABZ) (German)