Before your first degree
For people who have not completed their first degree, including school students, undergraduates and hobbyists without a completed degree.
Optional prize competition
The competition.
The competition recognises explanations that increase human understanding of a result and its proof. The difficulty or sophistication of the mathematics is not the criterion. Entries may be papers or videos of at most ten minutes.
Entry deadline: 30 November 2026. Competition entries must explain a proof already in the Open Problems in Numerical Linear Algebra repository. Submit a paper or a video of at most ten minutes using the contribution page. The library exists independently of the competition and welcomes everyone, at any time. Entering the prize competition is optional and subject to the eligibility below. Propose additional problems or solutions through a pull request to the original repository.
Panel and prizes
Judges
- Matthew Colbrook
- George Stepaniants
- Françoise Tisseur
- Alex Townsend
Prizes
Prize recipients will be named authors of a curated write-up presenting the explanations judged to best advance human understanding of the proofs. They will also receive a certificate and a cash prize. The authors will approve the public text and attribution before publication.
Who can take part?
Two competition strands.
Graduate students & postdocs
For graduate students and postdoctoral researchers at academic institutions.
The library is open to everyone.
The library is an independent, ongoing collection, not just a record of competition entries. You can contribute without entering the competition, whether or not you qualify for either strand, and after the competition deadline.
You do not need to have solved the problem or written its proof. Cite any proof you discuss and credit its mathematical authors.
How to opt in
Use the common submission form and give your last completed degree and current academic status. Confirm eligibility to reveal the optional competition checkbox. You do not need to select a strand in the form; the organisers will use your background details to confirm it. Leaving the checkbox unticked submits to the library only.
Joint submissions and mixed teams
Credit every author and provide each author’s degree and current status. A joint competition entry can be associated with one eligible member of the team: name that person as the competition entrant. Mixed teams should contact the organisers to confirm the arrangement; the other authors retain their authorship credit.
Contribute and optionally enter the competition →The entry
What an entry should explain
A readable paper
State the audience and prerequisites. Give the theorem, the key ideas and enough detail to follow the proof. Relevant history, applications and worked examples are welcome. Cite the first proof in the original repository and make your own explanatory contribution clear.
A clear, self-contained explanation matters more than a particular page count.
A short video
At most 10 minutes in total, including opening and closing material. Use readable notation, explain the transitions, and choose context or worked examples that help the viewer understand. Supply a plain-text transcript so reviewers can follow the argument without downloading anything.
Papers and videos are alternative formats, not separate competition strands.
Judging
How entries will be assessed
The panel will ask whether the entry makes the ideas and proof easier for its intended audience to understand. It will consider the accuracy of the statement and argument, clarity of the explanation, and how well any historical context, attribution, applications or worked examples serve that purpose. A difficult theorem has no automatic advantage over a simpler one. A changed theorem or missing essential step cannot be made up for by presentation.
Authorship and attribution
The people who create the digest are its authors and receive primary credit for the explanation, both in the library and in the prize write-up. Cite the first proof in the original repository and credit its mathematical authors. Also credit collaborators and any reused code or illustrations. Tell us how AI was used; the entrant remains responsible for the explanation. Lean verification is welcome, but it does not replace a readable account.
Publication in the library
Accepted paper and video entries receive public pages in the library, with a DOI for an archived version of the explanation. Video entries include a transcript. Authors approve the public text, credit and archival deposit before publication. Library publication does not depend on entering or winning the competition. The library remains open beyond the competition deadline. Questions about joint submissions can be sent to the organisers before submitting.