On Friday, 20 January 2023, after a two-year break due to the Corona pandemic, we finally held our big celebratory Math Advent Calendar Award Ceremony again. The MATH+ winners in attendance were from the 9th grade and high school graduating class. Congratulations!

MATH+ Booth, © Kay Herschelmann/MATH+

Almost 1000 students of all ages, teachers, and math enthusiasts from all over Germany and abroad came to the Audimax of the Freie Universität Berlin to celebrate their successful participation in the Math Advent Calendars 2022 and to collect their prizes. In addition to the math bazaar in the foyer,they took part in the ceremonial presentation of the prizes on stage and a colorful program with music and mathematical games. Before and after, a long line formed in front of the MATH+ booth in the foyer because many participants wanted to compete in a mathematical dice game.

The slogan of the Math Advent Calendar 2022 was “Math for Planet A – Finite Resources, Infinite Possibilities”! Energy shortages, prices, and scarce resources come here to mind. And these were precisely the topics that the two digital math advent calendars from “Mathe im Leben” and the “Berlin Mathematical Research Center MATH+” addressed in their puzzles and challenges. In doing so, they showed how mathematics is involved in these topics and how mathematics can help to find solutions to the problems our planet is facing. Every year, from 01 December, the puzzles were published on the Math Advent Calendar homepages by “Mathe im Leben” and MATH+. Students, teachers, and all math enthusiasts could participate – with the prospect of winning great prizes as individuals, classes, courses, and schools.

The patron of the mathematical Advent calendars is the Federal Minister of Education and Research, Bettina Stark-Watzinger.

A total of 5862 participants (39% female) from 54 countries participated in the MATH+ Advent Calendar 2022. Most of the international participants were from the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Austria. Still, math enthusiasts from Canada, Turkey, the USA, Australia, China, Mexico, New Zealand, and Singapore were also represented. Approximately 50% of the participants were school students. 823 participants were university students, and 660 were teachers.  In addition, 140 classes and courses worked together on the 24 tasks of the MATH+ Advent Calendar.

We would like to thank all participants for their perseverance and enthusiasm and are already looking forward to the next MATH+ Advent Calendar in December 2023!

Many thanks also to the BMS students, MATH+ scientists, and the colleagues from the Netherland initiative 4TU.AM for contributing tricky challenges connected to their current research projects:

Fabian Altekrüger, Ariane Beier, Susanne Brinkhaus, Hajo Broersma, Lara Glessen, Svenja M. Griesbach, Falk Hante, Christian Hercher, Sarah Hiller, Pim van ‘t Hof, Emil Junker, Attila Karsai, Rupert Klein, Max Klimm, Martin Knaack, Christian Kuchler, Marvin Lücke, Alex McDonough, Olaf Parczyk, Tobias Paul, N. Alexia Raharinirina, Silas Rathke, Jesse van Rhijn, Ulrich Reitebuch, Michael Schmitz, Rosa Schritt, Jan Marten Sevenster, Martin Skrodzki, Clara Stegehuis, Lotte Weedage, Christoph Werner.

MATH+ would also like to sincerely thank all the donors for the generous prizes.