Training 2023

Between May 8-21: 15 online sessions (32h total) with the Uganda PAMO and IMO teams. Training sessions animated by: Mugurel Barcău, Radu Bumbăcea, Dragoș Manea, Sergiu Moroianu, Vicențiu Pașol, Liviu Păunescu. We covered: Combinatorics, Geometry, Number Theory, Functional Equations, Inequalities. The technical conditions were much improved over the previous years. Here is the Schedule.

Training 2021

Between May 18-21: four zoom sessions (2h each) with the Uganda PAMO team (Sergiu Moroianu).

July 3, 2021: zoom session with Uganda's IMO team (Sergiu Moroianu) on Geometry.

July 6, 2021: zoom session with Uganda's IMO team (Radu Bumbăcea) on Combinatorics.

July 7, 2021: zoom session with Uganda's IMO team (Sergiu Moroianu) on functional equations.

July 10, 2021: zoom session with Uganda's IMO team (Sergiu Moroianu) on Geometry.

July 13, 2021: zoom session with Uganda's IMO team (Sergiu Moroianu) on Geometry and functional equations.

Training 2020

I have visited Makerere University from February 19 to March 2, 2020. It was just before the coronavirus crisis reached Romania, so I could fortunately return home safely. I gave a research talk in the Math Department of Makerere. I supported the airfare (see below) and accomodation at the Makerere Guest House. I received a discount for accomodation because I booked through the UMS. I have devoted most of my time there for training Uganda's PAMO and IMO teams. We were meeting every day for 10 days from 8am to 5pm, with a breakfast break at 10:30 and lunch at 13:30. The food during these breaks was graciously offered to me by the UMS, while the students paid UGX 110K each, around 30 USD, for the whole period. During the evening I was preparing my lessons for the next day.

It was on this occasion that I distributed the mathematical books donations from the GIL Publishing House. I would like to thank again prof. Mircea Lascu for this donation. The students loved having the hard copy of their favorite olympiad books!

I also delivered to the UMS a donation consisting of 5 laptops in working condition, 2 tablets, and 2 phones. People around me donated these equipments. I remind everyone that Uganda is a country where your old (but still working) electronic devices can be truly appreciated even after they are no longer of any meaningful use to you. So do not heistate to donate them to me for future transportation to Kampala.

I was able to transport all this stuff thanks to my special Flying Blue frequent-flyer ticket, courtesy of my wife who generously donated more than 80K miles and 200 euros to buy my ticket. Her Gold status allowed me to carry 2 pieces of checked luggage, on top of the free upgrade to Economy Confort seats and lounge access. Thank you Clotilde for making me travel like a Kabaka! This made a great 47 birthday gift.

Pictures from this extraordinary trip can be found in the Blog section of the News page.

Training lessons 2019

These sessions took place betwee March-June 2019. We have set up a system of teleconferencing between Bucharest (IMAR) and Kampala (Makerere University) using Skype. The trainer used a Jabra Evolve 65 UC Bluetooth wireless headset, high-speed internet cable, and a Zeiss high-definition webcam focused on the blackboard of the IMAR conference room. In Kampala, they used a tablet or a smartphone, and projected the trainer's image on a widescreen.

  • March 1, 2019: A first training session via tele-conferencing was offered by Dragos Manea: introduction to combinatorics - arrangements, permutations, combinations.
  • March 6, 2019: I have animated a training session to evaluate their overall level. There was a power outage in Makerere University, so I could not receive any video stream from them, they were on audio only.
  • March 12, 2019: Again myself, on: the irrationality of \sqrt{2}; the functional equation f(x+y) = f(x)+f(y); some geometry (this seem to be the strong point). Their audio was not that good, unfortunately. The students rated our audio communication 9/10 and the blackboard image 6/10.
  • March 15, 2019: Lucian Țurea gave an introductory lesson on number theory: existence of the modular inverse of a number a modulo n if (a,n)=1.
  • March 18, 2019: Sergiu Moroianu III. We reviewed elementary properties of the circle and inscriptible quadrilaterals.
  • March 20, 2019: Radu Bumbăcea. Combinatorics.
  • May 3, 2019: Sergiu Moroianu IV: the Euler line; a proof of Thales using areas; sequances defined by reccurence relations (Fibonacci); a problem with ants falling from the sky on a rod.
  • May 20, 2019: Radu Bumbăcea II: Problems with reccursion and induction.
  • May 24, 2019: Radu Bumbăcea III: Reccursion and induction.
  • May 28, 2019: Liviu Păunescu: The pigeonhole principle - theory and examples.
  • May 29, 2019: Radu Bumbăcea IV: More induction and reccursion. This was Radu's final lesson, as he is about to leave for a summer math camp in the USA. Thanks a lot Radu for your generosity!
  • June 7, 2019: Sergiu Moroianu V: Finished the problem with ants falling from the sky. Tournament problems (pigeonhole principle). Fun problems.
  • June 12, 2019: Sergiu Moroianu VI: Problem with moves of a colored polygon. A diophantine equation with prime unknowns. Geometry.
  • June 14, 2019: Flavian Georgescu: chordal line of two circles and applications.