Overview
The Middle European Mathematical Olympiad (MEMO) is an international mathematics competition for secondary school students from central European countries. It takes place each year in August or September, lasts seven days (six nights), and rotates among the participating countries. The details below follow the General Regulations, version 4 of 28 August 2024; the host's annual regulations take precedence over them.
Who can take part
Participation is by invitation only. The invited countries are Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland, and the host may invite one guest country.
Each invited country may send up to six student contestants, one Leader and one Deputy Leader.
A contestant must not take part in the IMO of the same year.
A contestant must still attend primary or secondary education in the school year after the MEMO.
A contestant must have been born less than 19 years before 1 July of the year of the MEMO.
Competition format
| Part | Detail |
|---|---|
| Individual competition | Morning, 5 hours, four problems (algebra, combinatorics, geometry, number theory in that order) |
| Team competition | Morning, 5 hours, eight problems, two from each of the four areas; students in a team solve them together in a separate room |
Each problem is scored out of 8 points. Writing and drawing instruments, rulers, protractors and compasses are allowed; calculators, computers and communication devices are not. Questions to the jury may be written in the first hour.
Marking and results
About half of the contestants receive a medal in the individual competition, in a ratio of about 1:2:3 for gold, silver and bronze. A contestant without a medal who has full marks on one problem receives an honourable mention. In the team competition, the first three teams receive gold, silver and bronze medals.
Fees
The host sets a participation fee per country of at most 1500 EUR, and covers meals, accommodation and local transport. Travel to the venue is paid by each country.
How to take part
Entry is through your country's national mathematical olympiad and selection process. Delegations are invited by the host.
Preparation tips
Practise olympiad problems in algebra, combinatorics, geometry and number theory.
Train in teams for the team competition, deciding how to split problems and check each other's work.
Use past MEMO papers from the official site.