All contests of the Tournament, except for the Optimization Contest (Goat), are conducted via the Distant Learning Center of AESC MSU (DLC). We assume that you have registered in DLC and enrolled in the MMT «course».
Below, you will find five instructions:
- How to register in DLC
- How to enrol in the Mathematical Modelling Tournament 2023 “course”
- How to get contest assignments and submit solutions via DLC
- How to work with the Optimization Contest platform
- Proctoring in Zoom
1. How to register in DLC
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- Go to https://cdo.internat.msu.ru; switch to English
- Find You are not logged in at top right and press the link Log in.
- Press Create new account.
- Fill the form New account. Entering your surname, put your team ID before it, for example: 08_Einstein (for a member of team 08 with surname Einstein); otherwise, your work may be ignored by the system. The team ID can be found here.
- Check your mail to find a confirmation email at the address you entered in the registration form.
2. How to enrol in the Mathematical Modelling Tournament 2023 “course” in DLC
- Go to the MMT page via this link.
- Select Enrol me in this course.
- At the bottom of the page find Self enrolment (Student).
- Enter the passcode that we will email to you in advance in the Enrolment key field.
- Press Enrol me.
3. How to get contest assignments and submit solutions via DLC
Just before the start of a contest, participants enter the MMT section of DLC, go to its subsection («topic») with the desired competition, find the assignment for foreign teams (in English), and open (or download) it. Solutions are to be uploaded on the same page. Preferably, you must present your work in pdf, although graphic formats (jpg, png) and MS Word (doc, docx) are also accepted. The file with solution must be called Team ID_Surname_Problem number, for example, 08_Einstein_2.pdf. (!) Solutions under filenames in a different format will not be accepted. DLC will control the time when the assignment is accessed and the time when the solution is submitted.
The very first subsection on the MMT page, Getting Used To The System, contains a dummy assignment for training.
The assignment of Mathematical Modelling Contest (Mammoth) will open in the system at 16:00 Moscow time, October 27; the solution paper must be submitted in at most 120 hours, before 16:00, November 1. At 16:00 the submission window will lock. Make sure not to be late! For details the links in the Mammoth section on the main MMT page.
All three other contests start at 10:00 Moscow time (October 31 and November 1 and 2) and last for 2 hours. Each of MAU (31.10) and MATS (2.11) olympiads includes three problems which will become available one by one. Problem 1 opens at 10:00; its solution must be submitted before 10:40. A delay of at most 5 minutes is allowed, but at 10:45 the submission window will close. Late submission may decrease the grade for the solution. As soon as the solution to problem 1 is submitted, but not later than at 10:40, problem 2 will open. The team will have to submit its solution before 11:20. Like with problem 1, a delay of at most 5 minutes is allowed. Similarly, as soon as the solution to problem 2 is submitted, but not later than at 11:20, problem 3 will open. Its solution must be submitted before 12:00, no delay is allowed! Thus, one can increase the solution time for problems 2 and 3 by saving the time for previous problems.
4. How to work with the Optimization Contest platform.
In the Optimization Contest on November 5, all the tasks are given on a different platform at the same time, 10:00. Solutions must be submitted before 12:00.
The instruction is published here
5. Proctoring in Zoom
The MAU and MATS competitions will be held remotely using proctoring in Zoom.
The invitation to the Zoom conference will be sent by email. The entrance to the conference will be open from 9:10 Moscow time on the day of the corresponding olympiad (MAU or MATS). Please come to the conference not later than 9:30, so that observers can make sure that participants follow the rules and organize their workspace accordingly. From 10.00 (Moscow time), the conference will be recorded in all halls. The recording will be available only to the organizing committee, it will not be published.
Members of one team can work separately, e.g. at their homes, without their advisor (chaperon) supervision, or the entire team can gather in one (class)room under the advisor’s supervision.
Writing MATS and MAU contests in separate rooms
Required equipment
Each participant must have three devices:
Device 1 is used to connect to the Zoom conference. It must be a device with a camera and a microphone and with Internet access (smartphone, tablet, or laptop). Make sure you have a sufficiently stable Internet connection. It is forbidden to use headphones during the contest.
Device 2 is used to login to the MMT webpage at DLC, receive the assignments, and submit solutions. It can be a laptop, computer, or tablet.
Device 3 is needed to take a photo or scan your solution papers. It can be a scanner, a smartphone, a camera, and the like. If you are already using one smartphone as Device 1 (to organize video surveillance), then prepare another smartphone for photographing works. You can disconnect from the video surveillance only under the permission from the Observer!
It is not necessary, but allowable to use a non-programmable calculator as a separate device.
Preparing to work
- Make sure that all the devices are charged (and there will be enough charge for the two hours of your work) or connected to the electrical network and all connecting cables (for a smartphone, camera, etc.) are sufficiently long for the correct installation of the equipment and are nearby.
- Set up the equipment for video surveillance of your work:
The video frame must show the workplace, the screen of Device 2, the participant (above the waist), as well as the participant’s face. Install the camera on the side and slightly above the participant. Before the contest begins, the observer may ask you to adjust the position of the camera; see the picture for an example.
- Prepare everything you need for your work: paper, pens, etc.
- Solution to each problem must be written on a separate sheet (preferably of A4 format). Sign the sheet Team ID_Surname_Name. We recommend to prepare such sheets in advance.
- There should be no things unnecessary for your work in the workplace. Drink and small snack (like chocolate) are allowed.
During the Zoom conference
- Go to the Zoom conference (the link will be sent by email); the access will be provided at least 50 minutes before the start of the competition. Turn on the camera and microphone for video surveillance and do not turn them off until the end of the competition (the camera can be turned off only under permission of the observer).
- After you join the conference, rename yourself in the system to “team ID_Surname_Name”, for example: «08_Einstein_Albert». Until then, you will not be assigned to the Zoom session room. Wait until you are assigned to the room you have been prescribed to. In the room, make sure that the Observer approves of your position in the workplace. Wait for the start of the competition and enter the DLC system.
- If you have a question, you can send it via the Zoom chat to your room’s observer as a personal message. To this end, you need to open the Chat, select the recipient, and write a message. The room’s Observer will have the name “Room_No_Observer”, for example, “5_Observer”. Please note: there will be a chat in the DLC system. It is preferable to ask questions about tasks using this chat.
- Tell the Observer that you have finished the task. Get up, if necessary, and show all the sheets of the solution to the current problem to the camera. Then take pictures of the papers and upload them to DLC. You can disconnect from the video surveillance only after the Observer allows you to do so.
It is forbidden to:
- Let anybody except the participant in the room where the problems are solved.
- Use of any means of communication for purposes other than those described above.
- Use any additional materials, such as books, manuals, notebooks, etc.
- Leave the video recording area and the room during the work on solutions.
- Switch off, even for a short time, the video camera and the microphone on the video equipment.
The Observer (Proctor) keeps record of all rule violations. Participants violating the rules under proctoring can be disqualified from solving the current problem or the entire contest.
Writing MATS and MAU contests in one classroom
No matter whether students are working in separate rooms or they sit in one room, they have to solve problems individually, so they are not allowed to communicate with one another. If they are seated all in one classroom, a few corrections to the above instructions must be made.
The main difference is that the observation must be organized using a device with a video camera, microphone, and internet connection installed at the back of the classroom so as to allow the observer (proctor) in Moscow to see what the students are doing and to see their computers. So instead of three devices, each student should have two (devices 2 and 3 in the instruction above). Device 1 will be replaced by a common camera in the class. It is also required that the advisor has another device like smartphone or tablet for connection with the observer in Moscow.
Other than that, students work as if they were working by themselves at their homes.
Foreign teams can use dictionaries to translate English into their languages. At the beginning of the work, they must demonstrate the dictionaries to the observer in Moscow using Zoom connection.