BMO | Regulations - 30 March 2024 - Balkan Mathematical Olympiad

(35 articles)
(updated 30.03.2019 by the General Assembly of MASSEE)

The aims of the Balkan Mathematical Olympiad (BMO) include.
1. The challenging, encouragement and development of mathematically gifted school students in all participating member countries;
2. The fostering of friendly relationships among students and teachers of the member countries;
3. The creation of opportunities for the exchange of information on school syllabuses and practice within the member countries;
4. The gaining of experience and preparation for the IMO.
The official language of the BMO is English.
The Balkan Mathematical Olympiad is organized once every year within the period April 25 to May 10. The member countries of BMO are: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, North Macedonia, Greece, Republic of Moldova, Republic of Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Turkey. Care should be taken so that no country will be hindered from participating in the BMO because of major religious holidays.
The BMO can only be organized in one of the member countries and only member countries can officially participate in the contest. The host country can also invite other countries as unofficial participants.
The BMO Jury shall consist of all leaders of the member countries and its Chairman, appointed by the host country.
New member countries have to be accepted unanimously by the Jury at least one year before participation.
All decisions by the Jury are based on simple majority unless it is otherwise specified. The Chairman may vote only when a tie break is needed.
If a member country is absent from BMO contest for reasons beyond their control, and then the member country can veto the approval of a new member country within three months after the last BMO meeting.
If a member country cannot send a team of contestants to a certain BMO organization, it may send a representative who could participate in the Jury with the right to vote.
Each year there will be a BMO Committee consisting of three members:
Country organizing the current or coming BMO (Chair),
Country which has organized the BMO the year before,
Country to organize the BMO the following year,
The new BMO Committee becomes effective immediately after the end of the closing ceremony of the last BMO.
Deputy leaders may participate in the Jury and they may also replace their leaders in his/her absence.
The minutes of the Jury meeting are approved at the last meeting of the jury and before the closing of BMO. The Chairman of the Jury of the BMO is obliged to give the minutes of the Jury meetings to all leaders and to send them to the member countries, which are absent from the BMO, within three months after the closing of the BMO.
Each member country has one vote in the Jury.
The Jury may consider and decide on any matter raised, which is not covered by any other regulation item.
Additional regulations may be added by the Jury, in which case at least two thirds majorities is needed. New regulations become effective beginning the next BMO.
The Chairman of the Jury may call as many day meetings as he/she deems necessary during a BMO or when at least one third of the member countries request an additional Jury meeting.
Proposals to organize a BMO are made during a Jury meeting and approved by the Jury. The Jury shall always approve the host countries of the next two BMO’s. A member country is eligible to organize a BMO provided that it has participated at least three times in BMO. The proposal shall be submitted by the team leader of member country who also has to show written proof of support by an organization or institution from his/her country.
Invitation should be sent by the host country of BMO with responsibility of the Chairman of the BMO Committee at least three months before the contest day and it should include:
1. An invitation up to six students from each country. Students must be high school students attending high school, but not exceeding the age of 20;
2. An invitation for up to two teachers(leader and deputy leader);
3. A call for up to five problem proposals with a deadline of one month before the contest date;
4. The Chairman of the following BMO may be invited in addition to the above mentioned.
The BMO contest shall take place during one day and should have duration of 4.5 hours continuously. The contest paper shall consist of four problems, each carrying 10 pts for a total of 40 pts maximum.
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 contest. The proposed problems should include their solutions and the filed of mathematics covering. The proposed problems are given to the Problem Selection Committee appointed by the Chairman of the Jury.
The Problem Selection Committee should make a short list of at most 50, but not less than 20 of the problems proposed and present it to the Jury for a 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.
The days before the contest, the leaders, the Jury and members of the Problem Selection Committee shall meet and accommodate at a place different and at distance from the place where students stay. During this meeting, the final contest paper will be decided and approved, translated into different language 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, then this will have to be done at the presence of at least two leaders from different countries other than one organizing the BMO.
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.
Each student contestant must work independently. Violation of this provision will result in disqualification of the student contestant from the BMO. The organizing country should make provisions for preventing the use of any dishonest means during the contest.
Student contestants are not permitted to bring any books or papers or calculators into the examining 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 BMO.
During the first half-hour only of the examination period, each student contestant may submit, on special notepaper provided, written questions for considerations 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.
The student contestant’s solutions will be assessed first by their leader and deputy leader. The official scores are decided by the coordinators. The leader and the head problem coordinator 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 problem coordinator.
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 a final decision.
For each problem the coordination of the solutions by the contestants from the organizing country shall be verified in the presence of the team leader from the country which submitted the problem.
The type of prizes to be awarded is: first prizes, second prizes and third prizes. Special prizes may be awarded for 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 obtained 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. A Certificate of Participation shall be given to all student contestants.
The schedule of a BMO should not exceed 6 nights and may look like the following:
1st day: Arrival and Jury meeting.
2nd day: Opening Ceremony and Jury meeting for problem selection.
3rd day: Contest Day. Papers are xeroxed, approved by the Chairman of the Jury and given to leaders.
4th day: Marking by leaders and/or deputy leaders. Excursion. Coordination (at night).
5th day: Coordination (all day). Free day for students.
6th day: Closing Ceremony (morning and afternoon). Farewell dinner.
7th day: Departure.
Each organizing country must ensure food and accommodation for all invited participants.
No country can violate or modify a regulation without the agreement of all member countries.
Every member country should try to organize a BMO once every n years, where n is the number of member countries.
The country organizing a BMO or 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 BMO or JMBO 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.