SigmaCamp Next 2025: A Day at Sigma

7:30 AM – 8:00 AM: Rise and Shine!

You’ll wake up in a beautiful natural setting, with a day of excitement before you. Get dressed, brush your teeth, and tidy up your bunk, then step outside and get ready for a day full of excitement and discovery.

8:00 AM – 8:45 AM: Breakfast

A hot breakfast is ready for you! You’ll eat amazing food. Really. Pancakes, eggs, sausage, and of course there is always cereal, juice, and milk so you can have all the energy you need for the exciting day ahead. Speaking of which, breakfast is also a good time to discuss the schedule for the day with your counselors and team members. Try not to miss the announcements about the Evening Clubs, too!

9:00 AM – 10:30 AM: Semilab

A semilab is a week-long exploration of a fascinating science topic through experiments and demonstrations (and the theory behind it, of course). It is your chance to work with a real scientist, and to feel like one. You can choose to explore fire chemistry, the art of cryptography, the study of genes, the brilliance of electromagnetism, and many other exciting topics.

10:45 PM – 11:45 PM: Lecture Course

This is not just a lecture - this is an invitation to learn about and discuss a fascinating subject that may just change your perspective on science! You can choose to learn about the mathematics of shoe laces, embark on a journey from philosopher’s stone to modern science, travel inside the mitochondria, discover a world where straight lines are curved, learn about the inconceivable mystery of the Great Nothing, and more. You will be able to choose one topic to dig into for the whole week.

11:45 AM – 1:15 PM: SigmaBreak!

Swim in the nearby lake (or test out the engineering concepts you learned during semilab by making sandcastles on the beach), relax or make music with friends, play soccer or volleyball, or enjoy a game of chess, Settlers, or Blokus.

1:15 PM – 2:00 PM: Lunch

You will have several delicious meal options to choose from, carefully prepared by a chef. Lunch will also be a good time to ask your food-happy professors questions: you will save and cherish their thoughts and explanations - carefully scribbled on a napkin.

2.00 PM – 3:30 PM: Semilab

Continuing your work from the morning, you’ll have the opportunity to test out your theories with experiments or have some individual time to work on problem sets.

3:30 PM – 5:00 PM: Sigma Tournament

The Sigma tournament is our traditional team problem-solving tournament, which features problems from Math and Physics, Biology and Linguistics.

5:00 PM – 6:00 PM: Sport, Music and Art

Tired of all the science? This is a chance to take a break from it. You’ll have some time to run, or jump, or climb. You can enjoy playing sports or attend art, music or drama studios! This is also a great and easy way to pick up an instrument.

6:00 PM – 7:00 PM: Dinner

By now you are probably hungry again. Restore your energy, and enjoy the company of people as talented and motivated as yourself!

7:00 PM – 8:30 PM: Workshop Spaces

Do you want to learn something else? Or are you afraid that all of the scientific bits inside your head will reach a critical mass and explode? Here’s a great way to try something new! Short workshops are there for you to learn, see a demonstration, have a firsthand experience, and discuss something completely different!

8:30 PM – 10:00 PM: Evening Clubs and Snack

Science is over for the day; you can contemplate all the new things you tried and heard while enjoying a light snack. As the sun sets and Sigma Camp greets twilight, you become surrounded by art, poetry, discussions about literature, history, astronomy, and most excitingly – music and dancing. Be part of any or all of these!

10:00 – 10:30 PM: Team Time

The day leaves you tired and your brain pulsating with the excitement of stuff you learned today. Like a proper reactor, it needs a cool down, and so do you. Get back to your cabin and ponder the science of dreams as you get ready for sleep. Write a letter to your parents, signup for the next day's workshops, and visit the nurse if you need to.

11:00 PM: Lights Out!