MOSP

The goal of the Mathematical Olympiad Summer Program (MOSP) is:

• To provide a mathematics program for a select group of very promising students who have risen to the top on the American Mathematics Competitions.
  
• To broaden students' view of mathematics, and better prepare them for possible participation on our International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) team.
  
• To provide in depth enrichment in important mathematical topics to stimulate their continuing interest in mathematics and help prepare them for future study of mathematics.
  
• To coach the IMO team, selected on the basis of the USA Mathematical Olympiad and further IMO type testing, to its highest level of performance in the IMO, and to achieve an atmosphere of comradeship and cooperation among the team and other participants which brings about feelings of cooperation and pride.

The rigorous curriculum and daily schedule of the MOSP is designed to achieve the goals of the program. The MOSP will give all participants, including the six IMO team members and two alternates, extensive practice in solving mathematical problems which require deeper analysis than those solved by students in even the best American high schools. Full days of classes and extensive problem sets give students thorough preparation in several important areas of mathematics which are traditionally emphasized more in other countries than in the United States. These topics include combinatorics arguments and identities, graph theory, probability, number theory, polynomials, complex numbers in geometry, combinatorial and advanced geometry, functional equations and classical inequalities. Understanding these topics is important for strong performance in an IMO. The MOSP ensures that the IMO record of the United States properly reflects the energy and creativity of its brightest students.

Following the MOSP, the six member USA team travels to the IMO site. Sponsorship provides travel funds for the participants travel, and the University of Nebraska Lincoln provides its campus facilities.>