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SigmaNext 2026: EE Submission

  • Returning students (attended any previous SigmaCamp or SigmaNext): you are not required to submit the EE solutions. Instead, please submit the Workspace Project Proposal (WPP) here. You are considered a returning student only if you have attended camps in the U.S. (not Brazil)
     
  • New students: you are required to take the Entrance Exam (EE). You are only expected to solve THREE problems.
     

The Entrance Exam (EE) consists of problems prepared by the semilab instructors. The EE includes nine problems from the five semilab disciplines at SigmaNext: two problems from Math, Physics, Biology, and Computer Science, and one problem from Chemistry. The problems are designed to be directly relevant to the semilabs offered at SigmaNext 2026.

Download Entrance Exam
The deadline for submitting Entrance Exam (EE) solutions is March 15, 2026 11:59 PM EDT

How to Approach the EE

  • Choose THREE problems that you are interested in and attempt to solve them.
  • You do not need to fully solve a problem—we are most interested in seeing your thought process. Even if you only make partial progress, please submit your work!
  • Explain your reasoning clearly: Even if you arrive at the correct answer, the most important for us is to see your steps and thought process.
  • You are not allowed to use any LLMs (ChatGPT, Claude, DeepSeek, etc.) to solve any of the problems.
  • Collaborating with other applicants on the EE is prohibited. But you can use the Internet, books, and even help from someone (who is not another applicant), but state precisely what sources you have used to solve each problem.
  • You do not have to submit all solutions at once; you can submit some and return to this page later to submit more. You can submit your solutions in any order.
  • The Entrance Exam is not used as a strict placement test. Instead, your responses help us match you with the best semilab for your skills and interests. Demonstrating curiosity, effort, and engagement is more important than arriving at perfect solutions.

 

How to Prepare and Submit Your Solutions

For each problem, you must submit a VIDEO and a PDF file. For Computer Science (CS) problems, you must also submit a code file.

PDF file (and Code file for CS problems):
  • Submit your solution for each problem as a single PDF file.
  • You may type your solution or handwrite it and scan it as a PDF.
  • For Computer Science problems, the only allowed languages are Python 3 and Java. Please upload a .py or .java file by clicking the "Add another file" in the form below.
Video explaining your solution:
  • Each video must be at most 2.5 minutes long for each problem.
  • Your solution must be narrated, but you do not need to show your face. Acceptable formats include:
    • Screen-sharing slides or a drawing app (e.g., MS Paint) with narration
    • Recording a whiteboard, paper, or easel with narration (contents may be pre-written)
    • Speaking directly to the camera
  • Submit your video as a link (uploaded to Google Drive, YouTube, Dropbox, etc.).
  • Please make sure that you can access your video using the link in an incognito/private window.

Upload the video to your Google Drive and make it accessible to "Anyone with the link":
1. In Google Drive, double-click the video file to open it.
2. Click the "Share" button in the upper-right corner; a small window will appear.
3. Under General access, change the setting from "Restricted" to "Anyone with the link".
4. Click Done
 

1. Upload the video to your YouTube account.
2. After uploading, under Visibility, select Unlisted (Anyone with the link can view).
 

in the YouTube app on mobile:


If you have already uploaded the video and forgot to change the visibility, you can do the following:
1. Go to https://studio.youtube.com/ and open the Content section on desktop, or tap Edit video on mobile
2.  Under Visibility, change the setting from Private to Unlisted.

Submit your EE solution

* If you'd like to resubmit your solution, simply upload it one more time. Only your most recent submission for each problem will be graded.

To submit your solution, you must be logged in to your student account.
Problem
This must be an external URL such as https://example.com.

File (required)

 Order
Only PDF, Python, or Java files

*If the "Submit" button is inactive, check if you started your application for this camp here

When submitting a video as a link, please ensure that you can access the video using the link in an incognito/private window. If we cannot access your video through the link you provided, your solution will not be awarded any points.

 

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to info@sigmacamp.org

We look forward to seeing your solutions!