Rank of Best Math Colleges and Universities in India, 2025

What is Math Rank?

We found the best mathematics and statistics departments in Indian colleges & universities. Math Ranks are prepared at Cheenta Academy, Kolkata. Cheenta is an institute of Olympiad, Research & Leadership programs for outstanding school students.

In this document we have ranked Mathematics and Statistics departments at colleges and universities based on faculty strength (qualification, international exposure), publication in past one year, frequency of seminars - symposiums and reputation.

Why TIFR, IMSc are not in the list?

We looked at organizations offering undergraduate programs. TIFR and IMSc. do not fit that description. Nevertheless they are among best places of mathematical research in the country.

Read with Caution

We have compiled research activities, seminars and faculty strength carefully. However this process is not error-free. We welcome (and infact need) more input from colleges and universities to improve this list.

You may send your suggestions to helpdesk@cheenta.com.

The sole purpose of this document is to assist students in high school to choose colleges and universities at the undergraduate level.

Understand

The top 50 institutions are ranked in 5 Levels based on research intensity and reputation. However the institutes inside each level are not “ranked” per-se. For example Chennai Mathematical Institute and Indian Statistical Institute are both in Level 1. We have avoided ranking one ahead of the other.

Rank: In top 1 to 10

Indian Institute of Science, Karnataka

  • 28 Faculty members
  • 98 journal publications in 2024
  • 154 seminars related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 138 seats (this includes 20% supernumerary seats for women and 5 seats for foreign nationals and OCI(F))

Admission Process

Admission is based on performance in one of the following national examinations: Joint Entrance Examination Main, Joint Entrance
Examination Advanced.

Specimen of Research

Characters Twisted by Roots of Unity; Arvind Ayyer et al.


Rank: In top 1 to 10

Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur

  • 53 Faculty members
  • 205 journal publications in 2024
  • 29 seminars related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 64 seats

Admission Process

Admission is based on the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced rank.

Specimen of Research

Global analysis of acoustic frequency characteristics in birds; Akash Anand et al.


Rank: In top 1 to 10

Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata

  • 28 Faculty members
  • 51 journal publications in 2024
  • 109 seminars related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 50 seats

Admission Process

ISI Admission Test - Objective Section (MCQs), Descriptive Section. Interview (Shortlisted candidate).

Specimen of Research

On high-dimensional modifications of the nearest neighbor classifier;
Anil K. Ghosh et al.


Rank: In top 1 to 10

Indian Institute Of Technology, Madras

  • 45 Faculty members
  • 140 journal publications in 2024
  • 38 seminars related in mathematical science in 2024
  • varies from time to time

Admission Process

Admission is based on the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main rank.

Specimen of Research

Neumann Domains of Planar Analytic Eigenfunctions; Akash Anand et al.


Rank: In top 5 to 10

Indian Institute Of Technology, Delhi

  • 43 Faculty members
  • 180 journal publications in 2024
  • 1 seminar related in mathematical science in 2024
  • varies from time to time

Admission Process

Admission is based on the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main rank.

Specimen of Research

Fractal dimensions of fractal transformations and quantization dimensions for bi-Lipschitz mappings; Amit Priyadarshi et al.


Rank: In top 1 to 10

Indian Institute Of Technology, Bombay

  • 49 Faculty members
  • 115 journal publications in 2024
  • 6 seminars related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 18 seats

Admission Process

Admission is based on the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced rank.

Specimen of Research

Low-rank matrices, tournaments, and symmetric designs; Niranjan Balachandran et al.


Rank: In top 1 to 10

Indian Institute Of Technology Kharagpur

  • 37 Faculty members
  • 147 journal publications in 2024
  • 15 seminars related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 69 seats

Admission Process

Admission is based on the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main rank.

Specimen of Research

Minsum Problem for Discrete and Weighted Set Flow on Dynamic Path Network; Bodhayan Roy et al.


Rank: In top 1 to 10

Chennai Mathematical Institute

  • 18 Faculty members
  • 57 journal publications in 2024
  • 66 seminars related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 30 seats

Admission Process

CMI Entrance Exam, conducted in May. Direct Admission via National Olympiads In Mathematics - Mathematical Olympiad (RMO, INMO)

Specimen of Research

Untangling Climate’s Complexity: Methodological Insights; Sourish Das et al.


Rank: In top 1 to 10

IISER Mohali

  • 21 Faculty members
  • 34 journal publications in 2024
  • 59 seminars related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 270 seats

Admission Process

Admission is primarily through the IISER Aptitude Test (IAT). The IAT assesses proficiency in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Biology.

Specimen of Research

Automorphic Word Maps and Amit–ashurst Conjecture; Amit Kulshrestha et al.


Rank: In top 1 to 10

IISER Thiruvananthapuram

  • 24 Faculty members
  • 44 journal publications in 2024
  • 72 seminars related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 180 seats

Admission Process

Admission is primarily through the IISER Aptitude Test (IAT). The IAT assesses proficiency in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Biology.

Specimen of Research

Well-posedness of Three-dimensional Damped Cahn-hilliard-navier-stokes Equations; Dharmatti Sheetal et al.


Rank: In top 11 to 20

NISER

  • 22 Faculty members
  • 36 journal publications in 2024
  • 3 seminars related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 200 seats

Admission Process

Admission for the Bachelor Programme are conducted via National Entrance Screening Test (NEST), the pan-India test that NISER and CEBS, Mumbai jointly conduct for intake of students into the flagship Integrated BSc programme of these institutions.

Specimen of Research

Coexistence of Hilbert Space Effects and Orthogonality; Anil Kumar Karn.


Rank: In top 11 to 20

Jadavpur University

  • 34 Faculty members
  • 192 journal publications in 2024
  • 0 seminar related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 75 seats

Admission Process

Admission is based strictly on the marks obtained in the 10+2 Board examination. There is no admission test for the B.Sc. Mathematics program.

Specimen of Research

Ion-acoustic solitary structures in electron-ion dusty plasma; Anup Bandyopadhyay et al.


Rank: In top 11 to 20

Indian Institute Of Technology Roorkee

  • 28 Faculty members
  • 174 journal publications in 2024
  • 0 seminar related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 49 seats

Admission Process

Admission is based on the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main and Advanced rank.

Specimen of Research

Can isothermal plane Couette flow in fluid overlying porous layer be linearly unstable? Premananda Bera et al.


Rank: In top 11 to 20

Aligarh Muslim University

  • 26 Faculty members
  • 143 journal publications in 2024
  • 1 seminar related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 120 seats

Admission Process

Admission is based on the candidate's performance in the CUET, conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

Specimen of Research

The Impact of Seed Size on Initial Drought Stress Resilience and Yield in Wheat Cultivation; Shakir Ali et al.


Rank: In top 11 to 20

Banaras Hindu University

  • 25 Faculty members
  • 132 journal publications in 2024
  • 2 seminars related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 573 seats

Admission Process

Admission is based on the candidate's performance in the CUET, conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

Specimen of Research

Modeling the impacts of chemical substances and time delay to mitigate regional atmospheric pollutants and enhance rainfall; A K Misra et al.


Rank: In top 11 to 20

IISER Pune

  • 25 Faculty members
  • 66 journal publications in 2024
  • 17 seminars related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 288 seats approximately

Admission Process

Admission is primarily through the IISER Aptitude Test (IAT). The IAT assesses proficiency in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Biology.

Specimen of Research

A Motivic Riemann-roch Theorem for Deligne-mumford Stacks; Amit Hogadi et al.


Rank: In top 11 to 20

IISER Bhopal

  • 23 Faculty members
  • 48 journal publications in 2024
  • 38 seminars related in mathematical science in 2024
  • The number of seats is not specified

Admission Process

Admission is primarily through the IISER Aptitude Test (IAT). The IAT assesses proficiency in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Biology.

Specimen of Research

Hecke Eigenvalues And Fourier–jacobi Coefficients Of Siegel Cusp Forms of Degree 2; Karam Deo Shankhadhar et al.


Rank: In top 11 to 20

BITS Pilani

  • 21 Faculty members
  • 121 journal publications in 2024
  • 0 seminar related in mathematical science in 2024
  • The number of seats is not specified

Admission Process

BITSAT (BITS Admission Test): Admission is based on the candidate's performance in BITSAT, a computer-based online test conducted by BITS Pilani.

Specimen of Research

A Parameter-uniform Implicit Approach for Two-parameter Singularly Perturbed Parabolic Problems; Devendra Kumar et al.


Rank: In top 11 to 20

Anna University

  • 36 Faculty members
  • 27 journal publications in 2024
  • 0 seminar related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 100 seats approximately

Admission Process

Admission is based on merit and TANCET counseling.

Specimen of Research

Global analysis of acoustic frequency characteristics in birds; Akash Anand et al.


Rank: In top 11 to 20

IISER Kolkata

  • 18 Faculty members
  • 36 journal publications in 2024
  • 29 seminar related in mathematical science in 2024
  • The seat limit is not clearly specified

Admission Process

Direct Admission is based Candidates JEE Advanced rank within a specified cutoff. Candidates who have passed 10+2 with science subjects but do not have JEE Advanced eligibility can appear for the IISER Aptitude Test

Specimen of Research

Mean Residual Life Ageing Intensity Function;
Asok K. Nanda et al.


Rank: In top 21 to 30

Hansraj College

  • 21 Faculty members
  • 21 journal publications in 2024
  • 4 seminars related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 101 seats approximately

Admission Process

Admission is based on the candidate's performance in the CUET exam

Specimen of Research

Conjugacy Classes of Automorphisms of the Unit Ball in a Complex Hilbert Space; Mukund Madhav Mishra et al.


Rank: In top 21 to 30

Panjab University

  • 21 Faculty members
  • 40 journal publications in 2024
  • 0 seminar related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 35 seats approximately

Admission Process

Admission is based on the candidate's performance in the iPanjab University Common Entrance Test (Undergraduate) [PU-CET (U.G.)].

Specimen of Research

Corrigendum to “The discriminant of compositum of algebraic number fields”; Mukund Madhav Mishra et al.


Rank: In top 21 to 30

Kirori Mal College

  • 20 Faculty members
  • 17 journal publications in 2024
  • 1 seminar related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 83 seats approximately

Admission Process

Admission is based on the candidate's performance in the CUET exam

Specimen of Research

Frames as Operator Orbits for Quaternionic Hilbert spaces; Dr. Shiv Kumar Kaushik et al.


Rank: In top 21 to 30

Presidency College

  • 13 Faculty members
  • 55 journal publications in 2024
  • 16 seminars related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 53 seats approximately

Admission Process

Admission is based on the Presidency University Bachelor Degree Entrance Test (PUBDET)

Specimen of Research

On the Design of a Searchable Encryption Protocol for Keyword Search using Proactive Secret Sharing;
Avishek Adhikari et al.

Rank: In top 25 to 30

Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science

  • 8 Faculty members
  • 35 journal publications in 2024
  • 0 seminar related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 80 seats approximately

Admission Process

Admission is primarily based on performance in the UG Pre-Interview Screening Test (UPST) and the subsequent interview.

Specimen of Research

ARCH-COMP 2024 Category Report: Falsification; Rajarshi Ray et al.


Rank: In top 21 to 30

Miranda House

  • 17 Faculty members
  • 8 journal publications in 2024
  • 0 seminar related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 88 seats approximately

Admission Process

Admission is based on the candidate's performance in the CUET exam

Specimen of Research

On scalarization and well-posedness in set optimization with a partial set order relation; Manjari Srivastava et al.


Rank: In top 21 to 30

University of Hyderabad

  • 18 Faculty members
  • 9 journal publications in 2024
  • 0 seminar related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 121 seats approximately

Admission Process

Admission is based on the candidate's performance in the CUET exam

Specimen of Research

Analysis of Stability, Bifurcation, and Chaos in Generalized Mackey-Glass Equations; Sachin Bhalekar et al.


Rank: In top 21 to 30

Loyola College

  • 18 Faculty members
  • 43 journal publications in 2024
  • 4 seminars related in mathematical science in 2024
  • The number of seats is not specified

Admission Process

Admission is based on the candidate's score in the 10+2 exam

Specimen of Research

Molecular descriptors of symmetrically configured carbon nanocones via quotient graph technique; D. Antony Xavier et al.

Rank: In top 29 to 30

St. Joseph's College

  • 25 Faculty members
  • 9 journal publications in 2024
  • 19 seminars related in mathematical science in 2024
  • The number of seats is not specified

Admission Process

Admission is based on the candidate's performance in the St. Joseph’s University Entrance Test (SJUET), followed by personal interviews.

Specimen of Research

Poisson Input and Exponential Service Time Finite Capacity Interdependent Queueing Model with Breakdown and Controllable Arrival Rates; M Thiagarajan et al.


Rank: In top 21 to 30

Jamia Millia Islamia

  • 16 Faculty members
  • 33 journal publications in 2024
  • 0 seminar related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 45 setas

Admission Process

Admission is based on the candidate's performance in the CUET exam

Specimen of Research

Couette flow of viscoelastic dusty fluid through a porous oscillating plate in a rotating frame along with heat transfer; Arshad Khan et al.


Rank: In top 31 to 40

Ramjas College

  • 17 Faculty members
  • 14 journal publications in 2024
  • 0 seminar related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 100 setas

Admission Process

Admission is based on the candidate's performance in the CUET exam

Specimen of Research

\text { Rationalized Toeplitz Hankel operators on the space of Torus } L^2\left(T^n\right); Ruchika Verma et al.


Rank: In top 31 to 40

Thiagarajar College

  • 26 Faculty members
  • 22 journal publications in 2024
  • 0 seminar related in mathematical science in 2024
  • The seat limit is not clearly specified

Admission Process

Admission is based on the candidate's score in the 10+2 exam

Specimen of Research

Econometric and stochastic analysis of stock price before and during COVID‑19 in India; Madhavan Madheswaran et al.


Rank: In top 31 to 40

Deshbandhu College

  • 24 Faculty members
  • 10 journal publications in 2024
  • 0 seminar related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 151 seats

Admission Process

Admission is based on the candidate's performance in the CUET exam

Specimen of Research

An orthogonal spline collocation method for singularly perturbed parabolic reaction–diffusion problems with time delay; Pankaj Mishra et al.


Rank: In top 31 to 40

Dyal Singh College

  • 22 Faculty members
  • 15 journal publications in 2024
  • 0 seminar related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 117 seats approximately

Admission Process

Admission is based on the candidate's performance in the CUET exam

Specimen of Research

Convergence analysis of modified Szász operators associated with Hermite polynomials; Akanksha Verma et al.


Rank: In top 31 to 40

Lady Shri Ram College for Women

  • 12 Faculty members
  • 6 journal publications in 2024
  • 0 seminar related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 76 seats approximately

Admission Process

Admission is based on the candidate's performance in the CUET exam

Specimen of Research

Group decision making model for selection of performance indicators for sustainable supplier evaluation in agro-food supply chain; Jyoti Dhingra Darbari et al.


Rank: In top 31 to 40

St. Stephen's College

  • 6 Faculty members
  • 0 journal publications in 2024
  • 0 seminar related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 40 seats approximately

Admission Process

Admission is based on the candidate's performance in the CUET exam

Specimen of Research

No research copy found.


Rank: In top 31 to 40

S.R.M. Institute of Science and Technology

  • 19 Faculty members
  • 16 journal publications in 2024
  • 5 seminars related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 30 seats approximately

Admission Process

Admission is based on the candidate's performance in the Entrance exams SRM Joint Entrance Exam (SRMJEE)

Specimen of Research

On the learning of high order polynomial reconstructions for essentially non-oscillatory schemes; Ritesh Kumar Dubey et al.


Rank: In top 31 to 40

Rama Krishna Mission Vivekananda Centenary College

  • 15 Faculty members
  • 26 journal publications in 2024
  • 26 seminars related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 60 seats approximately

Admission Process

Admission is based on the candidate's performance in the Entrance exams RKMVCC

Specimen of Research

Dynamical systems analysis of a cosmological model with interacting Umami Chaplygin fluid in adiabatic particle creation mechanism: Some bouncing features; Sujay Kr. Biswas et al.


Rank: In top 31 to 40

IMA Bhubaneswar

  • 5 Faculty members
  • 15 journal publications in 2024
  • 4 seminars related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 30 seats approximately

Admission Process

Admission is based on the entrance examination that is conducted worldwide to assess candidates' proficiency in mathematics and related subjects.

Specimen of Research

Certain properties of Bazilevi type univalent class defined through subordination; Trailokya Panigrahi et al.


Rank: In top 31 to 40

Sri Venkateswara College

  • 17 Faculty members
  • 20 journal publications in 2024
  • 1 seminar related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 47 seats approximately

Admission Process

Admission is based on the candidate's performance in the CUET exam

Specimen of Research

Graphoidally independent infinite cactus; Deepti Jain et al.


Rank: In top 41 to 50

PSGR Krishnammal College for Women

  • 26 Faculty members
  • 26 journal publications in 2024
  • 0 seminar related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 47 seats approximately

Admission Process

Admission are primarily based on academic merit, considering the marks obtained in the qualifying examination (10+2).

Specimen of Research

Binary soft simply* alpha open sets and continuous function; C. R. Parvathy et al.


Rank: In top 41 to 50

St. Xaviers College Kolkata

  • 8 Faculty members
  • 2 journal publications in 2024
  • 0 seminar related in mathematical science in 2024
  • The seat limit is not specified

Admission Process

Admission are primarily based on academic merit, considering the marks obtained in the qualifying examination (10+2).

Specimen of Research

Modular forms and its application; Utpal Pore et al.


Rank: In top 41 to 50

Shivaji College

  • 21 Faculty members
  • 23 journal publications in 2024
  • 0 seminar related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 115 seats approximately

Admission Process

Admission is based on the candidate's performance in the CUET exam

Specimen of Research

Construction of Irregular Complete Interpolation Sets for Shift-invariant Spaces; Kumari Priyanka et al.


Rank: In top 41 to 50

St Xavier's College Palayamkottai

  • 16 Faculty members
  • 7 journal publications in 2024
  • 0 seminar related in mathematical science in 2024
  • The seat limit is not specified

Admission Process

Admissions are based on merit, considering marks obtained in the Higher Secondary or equivalent examination.

Specimen of Research

Domination Integrity of Generalized Transformation Graphs; Therese Sunitha Mary et al.


Rank: In top 41 to 50

St Xavier's College Palayamkottai

  • 16 Faculty members
  • 7 journal publications in 2024
  • 0 seminar related in mathematical science in 2024
  • The seat limit is not specified

Admission Process

Admissions are based on merit, considering marks obtained in the Higher Secondary or equivalent examination.

Specimen of Research

Domination Integrity of Generalized Transformation Graphs; Therese Sunitha Mary et al.


Rank: In top 41 to 50

University College, Thiruvananthapuram

  • 9 Faculty members
  • 7 journal publications in 2024
  • 1 seminar related in mathematical science in 2024
  • The seat limit is not specified

Admission Process

Admissions are based on merit, considering marks obtained in the Higher Secondary or equivalent examination.

Specimen of Research

On the total edge irregularity strength of certain classes of cycle related graphs; Santhosh Kumar K R et al.


Rank: In top 41 to 50

Madras Christian College

  • 12 Faculty members
  • 3 journal publications in 2024
  • 0 seminar related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 50 seats approximately

Admission Process

Admissions are primarily based on academic merit, considering the marks obtained in the qualifying examination (10+2).

Specimen of Research

Hardy Spaces and Integral Means of Certain Integral Operators on Analytic Functions; S Sunil Verma et al.


Rank: In top 41 to 50

St. Xaviers College Mumbai

  • 5 Faculty members
  • 0 journal publications in 2024
  • 2 seminars related in mathematical science in 2024
  • The seat limit is not specified

Admission Process

Admissions are primarily based on academic merit, considering the marks obtained in the qualifying examination (10+2).

Specimen of Research

No Academic research paper has been found in 2024.


Rank: In top 41 to 50

Sacred Heart College (Tirupattur)

  • 19 Faculty members
  • 17 journal publications in 2024
  • 0 seminar related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 120 seats approximately

Admission Process

Admissions are primarily based on academic merit, considering the marks obtained in the qualifying examination (10+2).

Specimen of Research

Bifurcation and Stability of a Discrete-time SIS Epidemic Model with Treatment; George Maria SELVAM et al.


Rank: In top 41 to 50

St.Teresa's College, Ernakulam

  • 19 Faculty members
  • 2 journal publications in 2024
  • 0 seminar related in mathematical science in 2024
  • The seat limit is not specified

Admission Process

Admissions are primarily based on academic merit, considering the marks obtained in the qualifying examination (10+2).

Specimen of Research

Fluid Maxwell’s equations in the language of geometric algebra, Susan Mathew Panakkal et al.


Rank: In top 41 to 50

IISER Berhampur (Odisha)

  • 8 Faculty members
  • 26 journal publications in 2024
  • 8 seminars related in mathematical science in 2024
  • 300 seats approximately

Admission Process

Admissions is primarily through the IISER Aptitude Test (IAT).The IAT assesses proficiency in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Biology.

Specimen of Research

Non-polya Fields With Large P ´ Olya Groups Arising from Lehmer Quintics; Prem Prakash Pandey et al.

Let us know more about your college / university's math and statistics department.

Top 20 Mathematics Departments in Indian Universities in 2024

Personally, I do not like rankings. One interesting teacher, even from a remote college, may transform your life. Think of this list as alternatives to Indian Statistical Institute and Chennai Mathematical Institute's excellent undergraduate programs.

Part of the historical remarks was created using LLM.

Mathematics has once again become a highly sought-after subject in the age of artificial intelligence. Some Indian colleges and universities offer great math programs. This list is largely dependent on the input gathered from our students and our analysis of the research output from the faculty members.

This is not a ranking. The institutes are mentioned alphabetically.

At the final section of this article we also discuss the next steps if you are interested in a research career in mathematical sciences.

(more…)

How to Build a Career in Mathematical Science - Steps and Resources

We discuss scope of a career in mathematical science. This includes paths in academic career and industry oriented career. We talk about how to prepare for these in school days and in college.

The 'Cheenta' method of Olympiad Training

Cheenta has been working with thousands of school and college students since 2010. We have deviced a unique method of teaching non-routine mathematics, physics and computer science over the last 14 years. In this article we will discuss the main features of the Cheenta method.

Two Pronged Approach

A Cheenta program usually consists of two streams of sessions:

These two streams are disjoint from each other. This means that concept class and homework tutorial has no relation with problem solving workshops.

This create a unique learning experience. In the concept class and homework tutorial the students experience a familiar instructor led curriculum. It is comfortable, well instructed and involves hand holding by the faculty member.

In contrast, the problem solving workshops are designed to challenge the students but putting them in unknown territory. In it, students interact with completely unknown problems and unknown concepts. Intitially they may feel quite uncomfortable in the process. Sometimes they understand less than 10% of the problems that are being discussed. However with time, they begin to make the connections and contribute in the problem solving process.

These two processes work at tandem to create unique psychological impact on the kids. They create the temperament of non-routine problem solver.

Blended Homework Problem Set

The homework problems are also two pronged. They contain two sections:

Again the students feel more challenged when they face the second category of problems. They are often prompted to 'discover' some of the principles that would be otherwise taught as 'concepts' in concept classes.

One may think about these problems as 'forerunner' problems of subsequent concept classes. One interesting experiement similar to this is found in the book 'Theory of Combinatorics' by Krishnamurthy.

Intermediate Activities

The foundation math, physics and computer science programs at Cheenta also involves in-class activity problems. They are used to 'reboot' the attention span of the students and induce interactivity.

These activities may include Kendoku, Masyu, virtual experiments using Scratch, Algodoo, Geogebra. These hands on activities have a completely distinct flavor from the regular flow of the class.

Teach a Friend

Cheenta students get involved in teaching peers from Cheenta or from rural schools in India. This is a beautiful motivation tool for kids.

Once students are assigned responsibility of another kid, they seem to work really hard to understand and explain concepts. It also puts them in a strong cultural foundation.

Unlocking Math Olympiad Success: Navigating the Maze of Fake vs. Real Olympiads

Hey there, math enthusiasts and aspiring Olympiad champions! 🌟

Welcome back to our Math-related discussion, where we dive deep into the enchanting world of mathematics. Today, we're going to embark on a journey that's both exciting and crucial for every young math prodigy - the quest from Fake Math Olympiads to Real Math Olympiads!

The Olympiad Odyssey Begins

Picture this: Thousands and thousands of bright-eyed students in India, full of mathematical dreams, gearing up for the first level of the prestigious Indian Mathematical Olympiad (IOQM). They're armed with certificates, silver medals, and even gold medals from private Olympiads in their younger years, brimming with excitement and anticipation.

But then, reality strikes, and it's not pretty. Many of these talented youngsters are met with single-digit scores, and some even land a big, fat zero. It's disheartening, to say the least. These students, who are brimming with potential and love for mathematics, find their dreams crashing like a house of cards.

The Fake Olympiad Trap

At Cheenta, our mission is to nurture young mathematical minds, and we've seen this pattern too many times. We've got around five or six hundred students with us right now, and we've been preaching the same message over and over again: "Beware of fake Olympiads!" Why, you ask? Well, here's the scoop.

1. Question Quality: The questions in these private Olympiads often don't even come close to the real deal. They're not challenging enough and don't adequately prepare you for the IOQM.

2. False Hopes: These fake Olympiads dangle the tantalizing carrot of medals and certificates, making students believe they're math geniuses. But when the IOQM reality check arrives, it's often a rude awakening.

Real Olympiads vs. Fake Ones

Now, you might wonder, how do you tell the real Olympiads from the fakes? It's simpler than you think.

1. Organizer Matters: Genuine Olympiads are organized by reputable mathematical associations like the Mathematical Association of America or the Association of Mathematics Teachers of India (AMTI). These contests are gold mines of challenging problems crafted by true mathematical wizards.

2. Avoid Money-Making Schemes: Private Olympiads are often designed solely to make money, and they thrive on false promises. Those shiny gold medals? They're more about marketing than merit.

Nurturing Olympiad Success

So, how did our Cheenta students manage to shine in the IOQM this year? The secret is simple, but it requires dedication. We focus on problem-solving workshops, dedicating five days a week to Olympiad mathematics. It's all about non-routine mathematics and nothing else.

Your Path to Olympiad Glory

Now, here's the action plan for you, whether you're with Cheenta or charting your own course:

1. Consistency is Key: Dedicate at least one hour every day to non-routine mathematics. Consistency is the magic ingredient that fuels cumulative progress.

2. Aim for 3,000 Problems: Challenge yourself to tackle 3,000 problems in a year. For our students, that's 1,000 in class and 2,000 as homework. It's a starting point, but a strong one.

Embrace the Math Journey

Remember, mathematics is not just a subject; it's a world of wonder waiting to be explored. I'm still immersed in it, even at my age, because it's an endless adventure. Dive into the world of mathematics, seek its beauty, and you'll find yourself enchanted.

Join the Conversation!

This might be a one-sided conversation, but it doesn't have to be. Share your thoughts in the comments. What are your experiences with fake Olympiads? Let's discuss and learn together. 🌟

Watch the video by Dr. Ashani Dasgupta
Founder - faculty at Cheenta.

How to teach mathematics : an experiment with triangular numbers and splitting of plane

Mathematics is all about the beauty of patterns and their reasonable connections. How about connecting patterns from seemingly different domains of the subject? This is a note borne out of a Geometry workshop at Cheenta where we tried exactly that. The audience comprised of 9 to 11 years old students.

The purpose of this note is to share some teaching methods in mathematics. A detailed discussion on this method is available in another note.


We begin the discussion with triangular numbers.

One dot gives the number 1. We may have think of this as the 1-dotted triangle. The shape of this triangle is still not very triangular.

Next we add a 2-dotted row to make a 3-dotted triangle. Thus the second triangle has 3 dots. Now it looks like a triangle!

Next step makes the evolution of the triangular shape apparent. We add 3-dot row beneath in the 3-dotted triangle to get the 6-dotted triangle. Thus the third triangle has 6 dots.

Can you guess how to create the next triangle?

Obviously we add a 4-dot row beneath the 6-dotted triangle. This gives us the fourth triangle in the sequence which is a 10-dotted triangle.

Students quickly catch on and they create fifth triangle which is 15-dotted, sixth triangle which is 21-dotted and seventh triangle which is 28-dotted. By this time, the process of designing the next triangle is understood by most students. It takes only one more indulgence to expose the series form of the number of dots.

Can you find the number of dots in the 20th triangle? Well it must be 1+2+3+…+20 dots. How do we sum these numbers quickly and efficiently?

At this juncture we let the cat out of the bag and introduce the students to the genius of Carl Freidrich Gauss. Write the sum backward beneath the original sum. Each column adds up to 21. There are 20 columns. Hence the sum of twenty 21’s is 420. But we added each number twice hence the sum we are looking for is 210!

As the kids get marvelled by this little trick, we quickly switch gears and look at a more geometric problem.

If you put 1 line in the plane how many regions do we have? Clearly two.

Next put another line in the plane. This second line must cut through the first line. How many regions do we have now? Four.

Let us put another line in the plane. This line must cut the other two lines and must not pass through the previous intersection point. How many regions do we have now? Students take a little time to label the regions and come up with the right answer: seven.

We continue the process of drawing by adding the fourth, fifth and the sixth line. Each time we ensure that the new line cuts all previous line. Moreover the new line must not pass through any of the old intersection points. How many regions are produced in each step?

Students quickly notice that 5th line produces 5 new regions, 6th line produces 6 new regions and so on.

The punch line is this: total number of regions produced by n lines is exactly 1 more than the nth triangular number.

The splitting of the plane by lines (which is of more universal appeal) has this striking connection with a sequence of integers related to dotted triangles.

The spirit of the discussion should be experimental in nature. We constantly ask the students questions like:

  1. Can you draw the next dotted triangle?
  2. How many dots are there in the 10th dotted triangle?
  3. Can you observe a pattern?
  4. Can you find the number of regions created by four lines?

Draw draw draw… observe observe observe… analyze and conclude.

Sword does not need to remember how the whetstone looks

Imagine sharpening your sword with a whetstone. The job of the stone is to sharpen the sword. It does not matter what color the stone is.

Cheenta programs are designed like whetstones. They are supposed to sharpen the creativity and problem solving skills through a slow but sure process. They involve thousands of thought provoking problems, hands-on exercises and long term projects. This is perhaps one of the reasons why so many Cheenta students do well in the national and international level olympiads.

It is in fact unimportant to remember how the whetstone looks; that is it’s unnecessary for children to remember the details of the content. This is particularly true in the elementary school level olympiad programs. This content is not designed to be remembered as tools for they not. They are designed to sharpen the mind, excite the imagination and improve creative problem solving.

Take for example the module on Spatial patterns in elementary school olympiad program. One of the modules involve platonic solids such as dodecahedron, icosahedron etc. Students draw wireframe diagrams of these solids in paper, draw projection diagrams, implement it in Geogebra, draw dual solids using adjacency relations and so on. The point to note here is that platonic solids themselves are not that important. The things kids do with them is important. For example they learn about perspectivity (a visualization skill fundamental to geometry). They indirectly learn about duality, another important fundamental notion that runs through entire mathematics. As they walk through projection diagrams, their geometric visualization and spatial sense improve and get organized. These are very useful in the long run for problem solving. They also learn how to draw, redraw and think and rethink. They learn patience.

The Cheenta programs for elementary school kids are developed over the last 12 years with immense care. They incorporate findings of celebrated mathematician Cedric Villani, work of Rabindranath Thakur in Shikkhasotro, problems of Math circle experience in erstwhile Soviet Union and many other people who have worked tirelessly to improve mathematics education in elementary school. Let us know your thoughts as well.

How to prepare for Olympiads and other contests in Middle School?

Middle schools (grades 5 to 8) are formative years for children. At this age two important things happen:

Therefore, in middle school, it is extremely important to structure learning around curiosity, love for the subject matter and open-ended enquiry. The Mathematics and Science Olympiads usually help this process. But they alone are not sufficient.

Here are some of the tools that you may use for children in the middle school and help them succeed in the long run.

(Beautiful) Books for Middle School

Thanks to the internet, we have an over-flow of information. This creates a lot of noise, unnecessary screen time and confusion. It is important to introduce children to the right resources early on. We try to do that in our math and science olympiad programs at Cheenta. Parents and teachers may do that at home and school as well.

Books written by true masters can change the life of children. They ask thought-provoking questions and provide powerful intuitions for fundamental ideas. Some of these books also have ‘how-to-teach’ sections. Here are some good titles for middle school mathematics and science.

Hands-on experiments in middle school

It is useful to have hands-on interaction with mathematical sciences. Our years of work with students taught us a very important lesson: if students are allowed to ‘do stuff’ they will begin to ‘teach themselves’. Here are some good softwares to do hands-on math and science experiments.

You may also set-up small labs at your home. A good telescope and some elementary tools can take you a long way. Here is a good book to get started with it:

Peer groups in middle school for non-routine mathematical science

It is very important to have a strong peer group. Kids need to see other children who are excited about the subject. At Cheenta we endorse group activities such as math circles to promote such a culture.

Join a math circle or create one in your locality to inculcate a culture of critical thinking and problem solving in your child. Let us know if you need help.

Teaching at Middle School

At Cheenta we ask our students to teach as well (yes, even the kids in middle school). This process has an incredible effect on motivation and self-propelled learning. For example some of Cheenta kids teach rural school students, slum-area students from remote corners of India.

This process keeps the children grounded, alert about their own learning and engaged with the real world.

Non-routine tools

Cheenta programs use a lot of non-routine tools for Middle School Olympiad programs. You may also use them at home. They are useful for nurturing the mind and keeping motivation level high.

Non-routine contests

Non-routine contests such as science and math olympiads can be useful motivating for the children. However we should be very careful about this. Nowadays there are lot of contests with un-interesting problems that promote rote-learning. They may have negative impact on children. Here are a few contests that are useful for middle school kids.

Cheenta Math and Science Olympiad Programs for Middle Schools

Cheenta has outstanding math and science olympiad programs developed over a decade. Let us know if you need more information on curriculum and work-flow. Learn more about the success stories here:

Junior Data Science Olympiad: Resources

Junior Data Science Olympiad is suitable for students of grade 9 and above, interested in Data Science. Check out the resources for the Junior Data Science Olympiad in this post.

Curriculum

Algebra

Trigonometry

Coordinate Geometry

Combinatorics

Data Visualization

Reference Books

Subscribe to Cheenta Statistics and Analytics Department YouTube Channel

Mahalanobis Olympiad: Resources

Mahalanobis Olympiad is suitable for College and University Students, interested in Statistics and Mathematics. Check out the resources for the Mahalanobis Olympiad in this post.

Curriculum

High School Mathematics

Calculus and Linear Algebra

Probability

Statistics

Reference Books

Subscribe to Cheenta Statistics and Analytics Department YouTube Channel