Indian National Mathematical Olympiad

The Indian National Mathematical Olympiad (INMO) is an Olympiad in mathematics held in India.

The INMO examination is conducted by the MO Cell in February of every year. School students of any class (see below for more) first need to write the Regional Mathematical Olympiad of their respective state or region, usually held sometime between October and December of the previous year. Around thirty students are selected from each region, to write the INMO. Among these 400 or more students, a total of around thirty qualify the INMO. The qualifying students are invited to a one month mathematics camp at the Homi Bhabha Center for Science Education in Mumbai. In this camp, the students are taught Olympiad mathematics and some other general mathematics. Five selection tests are held during this period and the top six students in the selection tests qualify to represent India in the International Mathematical Olympiad

While the INMO is open to students of all classes, students in twelfth class are subject to some restrictions. Firstly, only six twelfth class students from every region can sit for the INMO. Secondly, only six students from twelfth class can qualify the INMO.

The INMO examination paper comprises six problems to be solved over a time of four hours. These problems are in the areas of algebra, geometry, number theory and combinatorics. No calculus is required, though calculus based approaches are allowed to solve problems.

Students who qualify the INMO once and come to attend the IMO Training Camp are sent postal problems during the period July -- December that they have to solve and send back (if they are still in school). Based on their responses, some of the students are invited to the IMO Training Camp the next year directly. Others have to rewrite the INMO again (they do not have to write the Regional Mathematics Olympiad).

Some perks enjoyed:

• Students qualifying the INMO are automatically eligible for admission to the B.Sc. (Hons) Mathematics course in the Chennai Mathematical Institute.
• From 2008, INMO awardees applying for B. Stat or B. Math courses of the Indian Statistical Institute will be directly called for the interview without going through the written test.
• INMO awardees are also eligible for an NBHM scholarship that currently stands at about Rs. 2500 per month, if they continue their studies in mathematics. They are also offered a 4-year programme of training in Mathematics through correspondence and periodic contact with a chosen faculty. The programme is also available to INMO awardees who do not pursue an undergraduate degree in Mathematics but have special interest in the subject. They are offered an annual cash award of Rs. 9,000 subject to satisfactory performance in the programme.
• Students who make it to the IMO are eligible for the prestigious Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY) fellowship provided they pursue their studies in the science subjects in India. The fellowship amount stands at Rs. 4000 per month.
• Indian team members who receive a gold, silver or bronze at IMO are given cash awards by the NBHM of Rs. 5,000, Rs. 4,000 and Rs. 3,000 respectively. In recent years, they have also been felicitated by the Infosys foundation.
• All travel expenses for the IMO Training Camp and all expenses for the IMO are borne by the Government of India.