BMS student Felix Günther participated in the International Mathematics Competition for the second time. More than three hundred students from all over the world tested their problem-solving skills in two sessions consisting of five problems in each of the fields of algebra, analysis and combinatorics. The competition is open for university students in their first four years of studying and therefore perfect for Phase I students.

"Compared to last year, the problems were at a similar level. But this time more people had a similar amount of points, such that the complete solution of one single problem more or less made the difference between obtaining a third or a first prize. In any case, the problems themselves were quite interesting and showed nice applications of theorems one learns in university. The solutions were corrected and discussed by the team leaders. At this point I want to thank Felix Krahmer, the team leader of the University of Bonn, who defended my solution, which resulted in gaining two more points in the final score.

It was my third time at the IMC, the second in Blagoevgrad. Nevertheless, I discovered together with other students many new places in this town I did not know before. Actually it is one of the main purposes of the IMC to give the participants the opportunity to get to know other students from various countries and continents. I am really happy to have made use of this and enjoyed this time, meeting so many people, some I already knew from previous math competitions."

Felix Günther, BMS Phase I student