At this year’s International Mathematics Competition for University Students (IMC), held in Blagoevgrad from 27 July to 3 August 2026, the focus was not only on solving challenging mathematical problems during the two competition days, but also on exchanging ideas with fellow participants.
Held annually at the American University in Bulgaria, the IMC is one of the largest and most prestigious student mathematics competitions. It is open internationally to students in their first through fourth years of study. This year, 447 students from 135 universities in 48 countries took part, including the LUH for the third time.
The IMC consists of two competition days, on each of which participants have five hours to solve complex problems in the areas of analysis, combinatorics and linear algebra. On the grading days, participants have the opportunity to go on an excursion to Rila Monastery. The rest of the supporting programme also offers many opportunities to meet students from around the world again or get to know them for the first time. The annual night hike to the summit cross on the mountain above Blagoevgrad is a particularly memorable event.
The LUH team, consisting this year of Sven Eike Bolle, Florian Elbrandt, Lukas Schulze, Anton Wiegand and Jule Wolterink, was once again delighted with its excellent results: Lukas Schulze and Anton Wiegand received Honourable Mentions, while Florian Elbrandt ranked among the 20 best participants and won a First Prize.
For the team, the IMC is the culmination of a series of weekly seminars devoted to preparation and competition training. During this seminar series in the 2026 summer semester, the students solved many interesting problems from mathematics competitions held in previous years. In addition, Florian Elbrandt, who led the event for the second time, provided in-depth instruction in analysis, combinatorics and linear algebra, tailored to the mathematical problems discussed.
For those interested: both the seminars and the opportunity to take part in the IMC are expected to be offered again in the coming summer semester!
The LUH team would like to extend its sincere thanks to the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics for its financial support, as well as to the Institute of Algebra, Number Theory and Discrete Mathematics for once again organising the preparation programme and participation in the competition so successfully. We look forward to next year and to welcoming many interested students from Hannover.
For further information, please contact Prof. Dr. Ulrich Derenthal (Institute of Algebra, Number Theory and Discrete Mathematics).
