JUNIOR BALKAN MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD REGULATIONS
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The aims of the Junior Balkan Mathematical Olympiad (JBMO) include:
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The challenging, encouragement and development of mathematically
gifted school students in all participating member countries;
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The fostering of friendly relations among the students and
teachers of the member countries;
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The creation of opportunities for the exchange of information of
school syllabuses and practices within the member countries.
- The official language of the JBMO is English.
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The JBMO is organized once every year within the period of June 23
to June 30. The member countries are: Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina,
Bulgaria, Cyprus, Hellas, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,
Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Turkey. Care
should be taken so that no country will be hindered from
participating in the JBMO because of major religious holidays.
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The JBMO can only be organized in one of the member countries and
only member countries can officially participate in the contest.
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New member countries have to be accepted unanimously by the Jury at
least one year before participation.
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If a member country is absent from a JBMO contest for reasons beyond
its control, the member country can veto the approval of a new
country within three months after the last JBMO meeting.
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The country organizing a JBMO may invite guest teams to participate,
either from its own country or from another country, provided that
the guest team is participating unofficially and outside the JBMO
competition. In order to invite such guest teams the organizing
country has to ask all the members for a "no objection" reply at
least two months before the competition takes place and the member
countries have to reply within a week. In case a member country
objects to the invitation of a guest team then such a team cannot be
invited.
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Each year there will be a JBMO Committee consisting of three
members, representatives of the country organizing the current, the
coming JBMO (Chair), the country that organized the JBMO the year
before, and the country planned to organize the JBMO the following
year. The new JBMO Committee becomes effective immediately after the
end of the closing ceremony of the last JBMO.
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The JBMO Jury consists of all leaders of the member countries and
its Chairman (Chairperson), appointed by the host country.
- Each member country has one vote in the Jury.
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All decisions by the Jury are based on simply majority unless it is
otherwise specified. The Chairman votes when a tiebreak is needed.
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If a member country cannot send a team of contestants to certain
JBMO, it may send a representative, which could participate in the
Jury with the right to vote.
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Deputy leaders may participate in the Jury without right to vote
(and they may also replace their leader in his/her absence).
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The Jury may consider and decide on any matter raised, which is not
covered by any other regulation item.
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New regulations may be added by a recommendation of the Jury in
which case at least twothirds majority is needed. New regulations
become effective from the beginning of the next JBMO.
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The Chairman of the Jury may call as many Jury meetings as he/she
seems necessary during a JBMO or when at least one third of the
member countries request an additional Jury meeting.
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The minutes of the Jury meetings are approved at the last meeting of
the Jury and before the closing of the JBMO. The chairperson of the
JBMO Jury is obliged to submit the minutes of the Jury meeting to
the next chairperson within three months after the closing of the
JBMO.
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Every member country should try to organize a JBMO every n years,
where n is the number of member countries.
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Proposals to organize JBMO are made during a Jury meeting and
approved by the Jury. The Jury shall always approve the host
countries of the next two JBMO's. A member country is eligible to
organize a JBMO provided that it has participated at least three
times at a JBMO. The proposal shall be submitted by the team leader
of member country and it should be accompanied by a written proof of
financial support for the event by pertinent organization(s) from
this country.
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Invitation should be sent by the host country with the
responsibility of Chairman of the JBMO Committee at least three
months before the contest day and it should include:
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An invitation for up to six students from each country. Students
must be under the age of 15.5 at the day of the contest;
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An invitation for up to two teachers (leader and deputy-leader);
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A call for up to five proposals with a deadline of one month
before the contest date;
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The Chairman of the following JBMO may be invited in addition to
the above mentioned.
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The schedule of the JBMO should not exceed 6 nights and it should be
sent at least one month before the JBMO.
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Each organizing country must ensure food and accommodation for all
invited participants.
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The JBMO contest shall take place during one day and should have
duration of 4 1/2 hours continuously. The contest shall consist of
four problems, each scoring 10 points for a total of 40 points
maximum.
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Each country, except the host country, can propose up to five
problems and they should be mailed to the Chairman of the Jury at
least one month before the day of the event. The proposed problems
should include their solutions and the field of mathematics covered.
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The problems of the contest should be chosen from the following
topics: Algebra, Geometry, Number Theory, Combinatorics, at an
elementary level.
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The proposed problems are given to the Problem Selection Committee
appointed by the Chairman. of the Jury. The Problem Selection
Committee should prepare a short list of at least 16 problems
proposed and submit it to the Jury for the final problem selection.
The rest of the proposed problems are kept confidential and returned
to the team leader of the country which has proposed them.
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The days before the contest, the leaders, the Chairman of the Jury
and the members of the Problem Selection Committee shall meet and
accommodate at a place different and at distance from the place
where the students stay. During this meeting the final contest paper
will be decided and approved, translated into different languages
and approved and multiplied for the contest. No member of this
Committee may communicate by any means with any person other than
the members of this meeting and no telephone calls will be allowed
until the contest begins. If it is found absolutely necessary for
someone to make a phone call, this will have to be done at the
presence of at least two leaders from different countries other than
the one organizing the JBMO.
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Each student contestant may submit solutions in the language of
his/her choice. Solutions may be written only on paper provided by
the Organizing Committee.
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Each student contestant must work independently. Violation of this
provision will result in disqualification of the student from the
JBMO. The organizing country should make provisions for preventing
the use of any dishonest means during the contest.
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Student contestants are not permitted to bring any books or papers
or calculators into the examination rooms. The only instruments
permitted in the contest are writing and mechanical drawing
instruments. Any student contestant making use of any prohibited
item may be disqualified from the JBMO.
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Only during the first half-hour of the examination period, each
student contestant may submit, on special notepaper provided,
written questions for consideration by the Jury. Each paper with
such questions shall be given, first to the Chairman of the Jury,
and then to the team leader of the country from which the student
comes. The leader will translate the question into English and will
propose an answer. If the Jury approves the answer, the leader will
write the answer on the paper with the student contestant question.
This paper shall be given to the Chairman of the Jury for
verification before it is returned to the student contestant who
submitted the question.
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The student contestant's solutions will be assessed first by the
leader and deputy leader. The official scores are decided by the
coordinators appointed by the host country. For each problem the
leader and the head of the problem coordinator team shall agree on
the score for each problem for each contestant. This score shall be
recorded on an official score sheet and signed by the leader and the
head of the problem coordination team.
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A leader may appeal an assigned score for a specific problem to the
Chief Coordinator. If the two cannot agree, the appeal and the
reason for rejecting the appeal will be forwarded to the Jury for
final decision.
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For each problem, the coordination of the solutions by the
contestants from the organizing country shall be verified in the
presence of the leader from the country which submitted the problem.
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The types of prizes to be awarded are: first prizes, second prizes
and third prizes. Special prizes may be awarded to particularly
meritorious and elegant solutions. A certificate of Honorable
mention shall be awarded to each student contestant who does not
receive a prize and who has gained full marks on at least one
question. The total number of prizes should be approximately two
thirds of the total number of the contestants participating, and the
first, second and third prizes will be distributed in a ratio
closely approximating 1:2:3. The contestants from guest teams shall
be awarded with Prize Certificates in addition to the above
mentioned and according to the official award ranks.
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A certificate of participation shall be given to all student
contestants, leaders, deputy leaders and coordinators.
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No country can violate or modify a regulation without the agreement
of all member countries.
