Registration and rules
Important dates
The IM2C 2024 will occur from 13 February – 26 March 2024.
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Team registrations open | Thursday 1 February 2024 |
| IM²C 2024 problem becomes available (beginning of the competition period) | Tuesday 13 February 2024 |
| Team registrations close | Monday 25 March 2024 |
| Final date for submission of reports (end of the competition period) |
Tuesday 26 March 2024 (3pm AEDT) |
| National results announced | Late May 2024 |
| International results announced | Late June 2024 |
Teams will be given access to the challenge problem by Tuesday 13 February or upon the day of registration, whichever occurs later.
Teams will choose up to five consecutive days during the competition period to work on the problem and complete their team report.
To participate in the IM²C, a team must have a team advisor, usually a teacher, from that school. It is the advisor’s responsibility to make sure that teams follow all steps required for participation in IM²C.
There are several procedures that a team’s advisor must go through at various times before, during and after the contest. It is important that the team's advisor reads the instructions and rules carefully and ensures that the team completes all the steps involved.
As soon as each team is formed, including nomination of a team advisor, the team should register to enter the Australian Regional Round of the IM²C by completing the online registration form when registrations for the year open. Teams will be given access to the challenge problem by Tuesday 13 February or upon the day of registration, whichever occurs later.
| Number of teams a school enters | Registration fees per team |
|---|---|
| 1 – 4 | $75 |
| 5 + | $50 |
Instructions and rules
- A team may consist of up to four secondary level students, enrolled in the same school.
- The contest runs during a specified period each year. The dates and times for the contest period each year are announced on this website.
- Each team will decide on a period of up to 5 consecutive days during the contest period to work on the contest problem. For example, the contest for your team could be from 9.00 am on a Monday after the beginning of the contest period, until 3:00 pm on the following Friday. Or your team could start work at midday on a Thursday within the contest window and continue until midday on the following Tuesday. Your team’s contest ends upon completion of the chosen 5 day period.
- A confirmation email will be sent to the team advisor, containing a registration code, which is used subsequently to access the IM2C problem, and to upload team reports.
- Team advisors may then download the team registration form, and complete the details on a separate copy of the form for each team, including giving a name to identify each team. The form will be used later at the time of submission of each team report as the team control sheet . The system automatically generates a control code that is subsequently used in conjunction with the team name to identify each team submission.
- In cases where schools wish to register multiple teams, team advisors should assign a team name to each different team they intend to register. This will help to distinguish teams at school level. Team names should not identify the individual school.
- Detailed instructions on ‘preparing a solution paper’ are provided on a separate page.
- Team advisors must ensure that no alterations of any kind are made to team reports after the end of the team's 5 day period. Team reports must be collected from students at or before this time and submitted shortly after via the International Mathematical Modeling Challenge Australia website (http://www.immchallenge.org.au).
- All team reports must be uploaded to the IM2C website no later than 3:00 pm (local time in Melbourne) on the final day of the contest period for that year.
- A signed Team Control Sheet must be included with the submitted report for each participating team, signed by the team advisor and by each team member. Team advisors should ensure that the details on the submitted Team Control Sheet are updated if necessary.
- A signed Parental/Guardian Permission form must be included for each participating student.
- All accommodations relative to learning conditions for individual students would follow the accommodations used as part of the local school program in an affected student's daily learning. The school bears the responsibility for providing any specialised assistance as required by law. If such accommodations are required for a student participating, the school should detail them and the extent to which they were utilised as part of the IM²C activities.
Any team that discusses the problem with anyone in a position to supply them with information reflecting experience or professional expertise will be disqualified. The relevant issue is one of intent: each team of students is expected to develop all of its substantive analysis without the help of others.
Please note that the Australian regional round of IM²C commences and concludes during the operation of Australian Daylight Saving Time (which is UTC/GMT+11 in the Eastern States). Team submissions are due no later than Tuesday 26 March 2024.
When participating in the International Mathematical Modeling Challenge, teams are required to comply with the following expectations:
Teams may use any inanimate source of data, materials, computers, software, references, websites, books, etc. However, all sources must be credited. Any code developed by the team should be included as a reference or appendix. The mathematics behind all software used, including any written code, must be explained in the report. Judges will only score the report, so it is vital the report is a stand-alone document. Teams may not use any person (other than team members) to discuss or obtain ideas for solving their problem, nor may they seek help in obtaining an answer from the team's advisor or anyone else.
