MBL 2023

MBL 2023 was the eighth edition of this initiative and was held from the 11th to the 24th of September 2023.
There were 60 participants and 22 tutors from 25 countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom, USA. 

MBL was filled with numerous events. Every regular day there were three 80-minute-long blocks of Mathematical Classes. They were devoted to some of the most beautiful concepts in mathematics from outside the high school’s curriculum. During every block there were 3 lecture sessions to choose from, each concerning different mathematical field, which contributed to the diversity of academic experience participants had on the camp. Classes were followed by an hour-long TAU, which stands for Time Academic Unscheduled that was designated for the students to work on the problems independently or with the help of tutors. It was also a great opportunity to clarify any points of the classes that were found hard or insufficiently explained. Another regular mathematical events were Camper Talks, i.e. a 30-minute-long presentations given by some participants on topics related to mathematics they were interested in. Their main goal was to give participants the opportunity to practice important skills of clear presentation of mathematical topics in English and inspire others with their passion. Students had prepared them beforehand and consulted them with staff members during the camp.

Maths was not the only thing the camp was about, therefore the hard work was followed by Evening Activities. They were fun, challenging, educational, thought-provoking. Most of them were run by the participants, while other by the staff. Lastly, there was also time for Sports in the beautiful scenes of Beskidy mountains. Activities included running and workouts as well as playing volleyball, football and frisbee.

At MBL we do not let anyone get bored, therefore also quite a few special events were organised. We went for a Hike in Beskidy mountains and solved a bunch of puzzles during a day-long Puzzle Hunt. Participants also got a chance to talk about careers, universities and olympiads with tutors and organisers during the Questions Evening Café. Moreover, they were able to improve their problem solving skills thanks to Relays (team competition similar to Náboj). Together with our sponsor Jane Street we also ran the Estimathon, which was a team-based contest that combined trivia, game theory, and mathematical thinking. All these little things contributed to making MBL 2023 such a great, inspiring and unforgettable camp.