On Saturday, May 17, AUBGers Iva Ichevska and Uliana Sinyakova, led by team advisor prof. Ali Raad, proudly represented the university at the 50th Jubilee National Mathematics Olympiad for University Students, held in Russe, Bulgaria. The prestigious competition brought together 127 students from 18 universities across the country.
Both students earned Silver Medals, a remarkable accomplishment awarded only to the top 16% of participants in their category.
The road to success involved dedication and rigorous preparation. Prof. Raad organized a qualifying exam to select the team and conducted weekly practice sessions in the month leading up to the Olympiad. “Each week, I sent them problems from past competitions and added more challenging ones to push their limits,” said Prof. Raad.
“As I told them, it’s better to struggle with harder problems now so that the competition feels easier. Both Uliana and Iva worked extremely hard, attending practice sessions regularly and mastering the material. I am very proud of them.”
The Olympiad is the most prominent student mathematics event in Bulgaria, held annually since 1974. Participants compete in three academic categories: Mathematics, Computer Science and Informatics; Natural and Technical Sciences; and Economics. Each university may participate with up to two teams of six students and one team leader per group. The jury, chaired by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Iliyana Raeva from the University of Russe, includes 16 leading academics, with over 40 academic supervisors accompanying the teams.
