A four-member girls team that represented India at the 13th European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad (EGMO) 2024 and were trained at Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI) have clinched two silver and two bronze medals. This is the second time all four contestants of the Indian team are securing medals at EGMO since the country’s debut in 2015.

The first time this feat was achieved was in EGMO 2022, where all four members secured Bronze medals.

The students are Gunjan Aggarwal (17) from Gurugram, Sanjana Philo Chacko (15) from Thiruvananthapuram, Larissa (16) from Hisar, and Saee Vitthal Patil (17) from Pune.

While Gunjan and Sanjana bagged the silver medal, Larissa and Saee won bronze at EGMO 2024. The students were trained at Chennai’s premier math school CMI with institute students Sahil Mhaskar, Aditi Muthkhod, and Ananya Ranade acting as mentors and accompanying them to the Olympiad.

Speaking to businessline, the winning team said the global exposure and connections that EGMO helped them make, has firmed up their decisions to pursue careers in the field of mathematics and computer science.

Aggarwal, the eldest in the group, will soon head to Cambridge to pursue a math major. Being trained and guided by students and former Olympiad medallists who were close to our age group, also helped, Aggarwal said.  

Since 2021, there is a separate EGMO Training Camp (EGMOTC) where potential candidates are trained and the EGMO team is selected on the basis of their performance in tests. Since 2022, the EGMOTC has been conducted by the Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI), where students (also ex-Olympians) contribute to the teaching and problem selection process.

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The girls were also trained and mentored through the training camp at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE). HBCSE conducts the National Olympiad Examination, which is the gateway for aspirants to represent the country at the international level. 

“The objective of EGMO is to inspire girls to take part in national and international STEM Olympiads by offering them a separate track. Over the years, it has bcome successful in increasing participation from school girls across the world,” CMI director Madhavan Mukund told businessline.

For EGMO 2024, 10 girls selected from regional rounds got trained at CMI, and Mukund says the number is higher for the next EGMO at around 15. 

Held in Tskaltubo, Georgia, during April 11-17, 2024, EGMO is an Olympiad exclusively for high school female students who enjoy mathematics beyond the regular school curriculum. Started by the UK In April 2012, EGMO has grown since then and now includes over fifty countries, welcoming participants from beyond Europe.

Olympiads such as EGMO help bring together gifted secondary and higher secondary students globally together. While they do not lead directly to any career benefits, they typically help shape the students interest in the STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields. It also fosters cultural exchange among teenagers worldwide.

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