Capital of mathematics

Dr Norman Bitterlich

From 12 to 15 May, the best mathematics students from all over Germany will meet in Chemnitz for the national round of the 58th Mathematical Olympiad (BMO). For the past two years, the event has been organised by a team of representatives from Chemnitz University of Technology, the city, Johannes Kepler Grammar School and the State Office for Schools and Education. For Dr Norman Bitterlich, the coordinator of the organising team, there are eventful days ahead after exciting weeks.

How do you become the host of the national finals of the Maths Olympiad?
Dr Norman Bitterlich: By showing interest. All federal states have been taking part in the Maths Olympiad since 1996. Everyone wants to be an organiser at some point or should be. The final round has been held in Saxony twice: in Freiberg in 1995 and in Dresden in 2008. We ventured forward in 2016 and put Chemnitz on the map. After all, the city is good, recognised in the promotion of talent and we want to show that. In 2019, the next vacancy was on the agenda. That's when we struck.

The 58th Maths Olympiad has been running since the start of the school year. Around 200,000 girls and boys took part in the first round, the School Olympiad. In a strict qualification procedure via the regional competitions (2nd round) and state competitions (3rd round), the most successful 200 young people from grades 8 to 12/13 will be determined, who will then meet in the final 4th round in Chemnitz in May. The national round is financially supported by the Saxon Ministry of Culture, the City of Chemnitz and the Hector Foundation II. Local institutions and companies are also contributing to the success of the event. Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer is the patron of the event.

What can participants expect when they come to Chemnitz?
First and foremost, of course, they can expect two mornings full of written exams. That is the centrepiece, which is why they are coming to Chemnitz. As the host city, we want to present Chemnitz to the participants and show them a few things.
On Monday and Tuesday afternoon, they will be given a guided tour of Chemnitz. Under the motto of science and business, companies have agreed to welcome groups and show them their businesses. We will also be present at the Technical University. The wonderland of physics is a must-see when you are in Chemnitz. Tuesday is then reserved for the cultural and museum landscape. We offer everything from the Gunzenhauser to the Games Museum. You will get to know things that are characteristic of Chemnitz, such as the Industrial Museum. In the evening we go to the stadium. We call this a "meeting evening". We want to bring the participants and guests together with Chemnitz residents so that they can get to know each other and the city better. On Wednesday morning, the winners will be chosen at the Technical University.

The winners must not only be able to do maths, but also have a passion for tricky problems. For example, the following task was set last year in year 8: Jonas wants to go kayaking during the summer holidays. He knows that he can paddle a distance of 6 kilometres in one hour in current-free waters. He hires a boat for 4 hours for a river trip. He wants to paddle downstream first and then back again, making full use of the hire time. He asks about the current speed of the river. It is 1.5 km/h. Calculate the total distance he would travel in the kayak. (The times for accelerating and turning around are neglected.) Solution: Jonas would travel 22.5 km. "The nice thing about the Maths Olympiad, however, is that there is not just one winner. 40 per cent of the participants receive a prize. There are several second prizes and even more third prizes. Performance is recognised more individually than against each other. You're not so much a competitor in the sense that you are in sport. That's a great thing," says Dr Norman Bitterlich, describing what makes the competition so special.

So normal maths lessons are not enough to be successful?
No. That's probably not enough. In addition to the time pressure, there is also the individual skill of writing down a solution so completely that you don't have to explain it to anyone. The corrector must be able to follow the steps and must not discover any gaps in your train of thought.
The tasks require both mathematical skills and the ability to recognise connections and construct solutions. This goes beyond the school curriculum. There are also tasks that students never enjoy doing. Spatial geometry, for example. You have a cube, take a plane and intersect the cube with it. What kind of cut surfaces are created? Of course they can do such a simple task, but it's very visualised. Normal pupils usually lack this visualisation. There are people here who have already practised it, who train it properly so that you can do it in this form.

Keyword teacher shortage: you deal with gifted children. Are you concerned about the problem of teacher shortages?
That is a big problem. We also notice this where there are still qualified teachers working who can take their time and engage with pupils beyond the classroom. Pupils sometimes just need a contact person to say, I've started something and I can't get any further. That is no longer possible at all schools. Unfortunately.

Norman Bitterlich was involved in the Chemnitz District Committee and the Saxon State Committee for the Promotion of Mathematically and Scientifically Gifted and Interested Pupils. Among other things, he co-founded the Saxon Physics Olympiad 20 years ago and shaped the Adam Ries Competition for over 25 years after its reorganisation in 1992. 1,500 pupils every year and has an international impact in Thuringia, Bavaria and the Czech Republic. As a 14th-generation descendant of Adam Ries, the 62-year-old teaches maths in a vivid way and reaches all age groups, from pre-school children to senior citizens. He passes on his experience in promoting gifted children to teachers via the district committee. Dr Norman Bitterlich also supports around 60 mathematically interested pupils in grades 9 and 10 as part of a correspondence circle. "I do this as a hobby at home. Just like others watch football, I look at the pupils' work." In 2013, he was honoured with the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for his commitment to promoting gifted students in mathematics and science.

Where does your love of numbers and science come from if you don't work with young people as a profession?
I'm a mathematician, I studied it and I also took part in Maths Olympiads when I was at school. That's where my love for this competition, for maths, came from. I took part in it as a pupil up until my final year at school and was even in the fourth round once. In this respect, the love of maths, proving, puzzling and questioning is already deeply rooted in me. I studied maths in Jena, but I'm from the region and that's why I came back here after my degree and doctorate. I was then able to get involved in promoting gifted students here from 1986. I started at the Hans-Beimler-Schule, the predecessor of the Johannes-Kepler-Gymnasium, with optional compulsory maths lessons. And that as an untrained teacher.

A kind of AG?
Yes, a kind of AG. But it was really called teaching in this specialisation.

What do you do when you're not organising the Maths Olympiad?
I'm a statistician at a medical service company in Rabenstein. I analyse studies. These are not the big international studies, but there is a great need to analyse data collections. We do this as a service provider for the pharmaceutical industry, for manufacturers of dietary supplements, etc.

You want to present Chemnitz as a successful centre of knowledge and business during the Maths Olympiad. What do you find particularly outstanding?
That we naturally had and still have many industrial companies. They have a lot to do with basic maths skills and are very open. For example, I take pupils to companies and organise seminars or the like so that we are close to the real world and show how high the demand for mathematics is. I think it's great that you can find yourself as a mathematician in Chemnitz.

The national "Jugend forscht" competition also takes place in Chemnitz the day after the BMO. Was that a coincidence?
Absolutely. But a very nice one. This is now something very special for the city. It would be desirable to look at this week as a whole. It's something very special. I don't think the two competitions have ever been this close before. We very much hope that it will be perceived as such. We will even have students taking part in both competitions. One clientele solves problems theoretically, while the other looks more at the practical side. Combining the two is of course ideal.

We want to become Capital of Culture in 2025. What can maths contribute to a successful bid?
My basic conviction is that maths is a great cultural asset. And we have already held seminars in cultural institutions such as the town hall and the industrial museum. So there is definitely a connection between mathematics as a cultural asset and what characterises the city. I do believe that these basic skills, which everyone should have, are an integral part of culture.

What do you think of the application yourself?
I always think it's good when Chemnitz has the courage to say: we can do something special, we have something to offer and we make an effort to present it properly. I'm immediately in favour of something like that, because I'm an optimist. Even if several Saxon cities are bidding at the same time, you have to be willing to bite your way through. That's good. A lot will stick, no matter how the application turns out.