Maths Extension Summer Camp

Sunday 8 January to Friday 21 January 2023

The National Mathematics Summer School (NMSS) is a two-week residential mathematics school that takes place every year in January at the Australian National University. This is a selective camp that caters for students from all over Australia who are in Year 11 in 2022 and who not only enjoy mathematics but who are also very mathematically able. 

 

Camp Dates: 8 - 21 January 2023.

Location: Australian National University, Canberra.

Selection is based on two things: the strength of a student's written application and the teacher reference. 

Applications close August 31st. 

NMSS-23 Flyer 

 

Each year, the volunteers that run NMSS aim to:

  1. Give approximately 75 maths-minded students from around Australia a chance to do some extra maths
  2. Show these students what university maths is like, and how it is quite different to high school maths
  3. Introduce these students to a number of different careers that involve maths, and highlight just how many there are
  4. Allow these students to interact with their like-minded peers.

A Mordialloc College’s Student Testimonial of NMSS:

In January 2022, I had the privilege of attending NMSS (which people pronounce as “nemesis”). “But who would want to be doing maths during the holidays?” you may ask. Well, as much as it wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea, I certainly found it to be a very enjoyable and rewarding experience, as would anyone else who has a passion for maths. 

 

Throughout the school, we participated in many different lectures, including ones about Number Theory, Algorithms, and different mathematical careers. We had the privilege of having Associate Professor Norm Do, who is the Head of Mathematics at Monash University, as our Number Theory lecturer. Of the three lectures about careers in maths, there was one that particularly interested me and that was a talk from one of the professors who currently works in COVID case modelling; it was fascinating to learn about how they go about it. 

 

We also participated in a variety of activities, such as playing mathematical games with our peers and teachers, watching or taking part in mock game shows, and finishing the camp by showing off our non-mathematical talents in a concert. Most of this took place on a Discord server (which is a social media platform), which has allowed us to stay in contact with each other after the school has finished. We have been continuing to discuss maths to this day. Additionally, I now have a number of connections in the world of mathematics, especially since the teachers/tutors who ran the camp left their emails with us to stay in contact. 

 

Personally, this experience was extremely beneficial (and enjoyable), as I learnt about two new careers that I could potentially do (“research mathematician” and “forecaster”). Furthermore, NMSS has opened a whole new world of maths to me, and I am now looking forward to university maths, rather than fearing it. But most of all, we learned about and did a lot of maths!

 

For any Year 11 student who enjoys maths, is thinking about entering a mathematical job, or wants to gain an understanding of how higher level maths works, I would strongly recommend that you apply to go to NMSS 2023. In addition to what I experienced, you would also have the opportunity of going to Canberra, and hence, would be participating in these activities and meeting these people in person. 

 

If you would like to apply, please ask Ms. Chambers (julie.chambers@mc.vic.edu.au) or myself (WHI0022@mc.vic.edu.au) for further details.

Tim Whitford

Year 12 student

 

Julie Chambers

Maths Learning Area Leader