Older announcements

Lecture on Defensive Programming

Sunday, January 22, at 3PM EST, the Computer Science Problem of the Month team will be hosting a lecture on defensive programming! Come learn about how to design code to handle any unexpected test cases that are thrown at it and make it as robust as possible. No advanced computer science knowledge required! You can join the lecture here: https://sigmacamp-org.zoom.us/j/7678155593 We'd love to see you there, and let us know if you have any questions!

Problem of the Month for January are posted

Computer Science Lecture on October 2nd

If you’re interested in coding and would like to learn more, the Problem of the Month Computer Science team is offering an introductory computer science lecture this Sunday, October 2nd, from 3:00 - 4:15 PM EST. No coding experience necessary! Can’t make it? We will record all the sessions and post links to the recordings as well as notes from some sessions on the POM website. We hope to see you there! Join the lecture here.

Junior Counselor Application is now Open!

The Junior Counselor application can be found here. We look forward to your applications

YES Lecture by Alex Frenkel on May 5th

The next Young Educators and Scientists Lecture will be given by Alex Frenkel on May 5th at 6pm EST in a hybrid format, on Zoom and at the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics, Stony Brook University. The Lecture is titled: Gravity, Holography, and Black Hole Information

Application for SC 2022 is now open!

Please visit SC 2022 page for details.
Application deadline is April 15

Problem of the Month 2021-22 season is over

The 2021-2022 Problem of the Month season has come to an end.  We thank everyone for participation, and would like to congratulate our winners:

Winners in Category 5 (8th grade and below):

1. The Firs​​t place and a $100 Amazon gift card are awarded to

– Daniil Landau (169 points)

2. The Second place and a $75 Amazon gift card are awarded to

– Andrew Muratov  (167 points)

3. The Third place and a $50 Amazon gift card are awarded to

– Julien Maurer  (160 points)

Winners in Category 10 (9th grade and above):

1. The First place and a $100 Amazon gift card are awarded to

– Mark Kovrizhkin  (230 points)

2. The Second place and a $75 Amazon gift card are awarded to

–  Daniel Gilman (201 points)

3. The Third place and a $50 Amazon gift card are awarded to

– Emily Snyder (147 points)

Winners will get their gift cards by email and diplomas and special prizes will be awarded to the winners at the Opening Ceremony of SigmaCamp 2022. Congratulations!

How to Survive Hunger? Sporulation is the Bacterial Answer.

The Problem of the Month Lecture Series continues, with a lecture from Yaroslava Polosina on population Dynamics. The lecture will take place on Monday, November 15. For details, visit the PoM Lecture Series page.

Problem of the Month Lecture Series

This year, Sigma's Problem of the Month is excited to announce that it will host a series of lectures: Problem of the Month Lecture Series. The first lecture will take place on October 8th.

Problem of the Month 2021-2022 is Open

We are excited to announce the beginning of SigmaCamp’s Problem of the Month 2021-2022 season! "Problem of the Month” (PoM) is an online multidisciplinary STEM competition that is open to everyone who is in 10th grade or younger, regardless of what state/country they live in. The goal of the PoM contest is to stimulate inquisitive minds and cultivate interest in science and math.

SigmaCamp admissions sent out!

We look forward to seeing you at SigmaCamp 2021. Please see Information for Admitted Campers for instructions with the next steps.

Application deadline extended to May 15

We hope this extension will help accomodate the added uncertainty of this special year. This information is also reflected in our Flyer!

Now accepting applications to SigmaCamp2021!

It is official: we plan to run SC2021 in-person, but with some changes compared to pre-Covid times. Most importantly, it will be longer: the camp will run August 11-21, 2021.
Please visit SC2021 info page for details - and start your application today!

Application deadline is April 30, 2021.

Application to SigmaCamp2021 opens on March 15!

Current plan (subject to change) is that SC2021 will be in-person, but with some changes compared to pre-Covid times. Most importantly, it will be longer: the camp will run August 11-21, 2021.
Further details will be posted soon!

Problem of the Month Contest for 2020 is open!

Test your problem-solving skills in math, physics, biology, chemistry, linguistics, and computer science, and qualify for admission to SigmaCamp 2021!
Check POM home page for more information.

Virtual Sigma Day Schedule

The schedule of Virtual Sigma 2020 is now available and can be found at: http://sigmacamp.org/2020/day

Q&A with Sigma Lecturers: Unconscious Patterns in Human Language

SigmaCamp continues Q&A sessions with Sigma Lecturers. Then next Q&A with Robert Hoberman will take place via Zoom on June 3rd at 4pm EST:

Unconscious Patterns in Human Language
by Robert Hoberman

Please visit http://sigmacamp.org/2020-q-and-a/hoberman for details.

Q&A with Sigma Lecturers: Duality in Physics

SigmaCamp continues Q&A sessions with Sigma Lecturers. Then net Q&A with Sergei Razamat will take place via Zoom on May 14th at 4pm EST:

Duality in Physics
by Sergei Razamat

Please visit http://sigmacamp.org/2020-q-and-a/razamat for details.

Q&A with Sigma Lecturers

The opening lecture and Q&A on freedom of speech by Nadine Strossen was a big success last week. The next Q&A session will take place via Zoom on May 8th at 4pm EST:

From Inscribed Worlds to Non-Euclidean Geometry: History and Geometry of Kepler's Laws
by Roman Bezrukavnikov

Please visit http://sigmacamp.org/2020-q-and-a/bezrukavnikov for details.

COVID19 update and deadline change

Because of the uncertainty caused by COVID19 pandemic, we are changing some of our deadlines. Please click the "Read more" link below to read the full announcement!

Postponed:Taste of Sigma March 8th event

Due to the unclear situation with the possibility of transmission of 2019-nCoV we postponed the event on Sunday, March 8, 5 PM

On March 8th at the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics at Stony Brook University, we are holding our Spring "Taste of Sigma" event. It will be an evening full of Science and Math demonstrations and activities for children and adults of all ages. Admission is free but seats are limited, but registration is required. RSVP here!

End of Problem of the Month 2019-20 Season

Problem of the Month 2019-20 has come to an end! Congratulations to the winners of this PoM Season!

Winners in Category 5 (8th grade and below) are:

1. The First place and a $100 Amazon gift card are awarded to Jacob Binder (241 points)

2. The Second place and a $75 Amazon gift card are awarded to Mark Kovrizhkin (231 points)

3. The Third place and a $50 Amazon gift card are awarded to Daniel Gilman (207 points)

Winners in Category 10 (9th grade and above) are:

1. The First place and $100 Amazon gift cards are awarded to Samuel Rosner (208 points)

2. The Second place and a $75 Amazon gift card are awarded to Alexey Tatarinov (199 points)

3. The Third place and a $50 Amazon gift card are awarded to Maria Yaskina (192 points)

Taste of Sigma event

On Nov 10, 2019, we are holding our first "Taste of Sigma" event at Simons Center for Geometry and Physics of Stony Brook University. During the event you will attend a lecture by our faculty Tatiana Pyatina (same one she gave at SigmaCamp 2019), meet Sigma Faculty and board members (so you can ask them any questions you might have), and meet other parents and prospective parents.

Admission is free but seats are limited, so registration is required. To register and learn more, please visit this page

We would like to thank Simons Center for Geometry and Physics for hosting this event!
Download lecture poster

Problem of the Month 2019-2020 is now open

To learn more about the open-to-all problem solving contest run by SigmaCamp and to register, visit: sigmacamp.org/pom

Communication during camp

Dear parents:
in these last days before the camp and during camp, we will be sending reminders and announcements to you by email, using the email address you provided during registration. Please make sure to check this email frequently!
We will also be posting updates on our blog page and on our Facebook page: https://facebook.com/sigmacamp

Please note that the internet connection at camp is limited, and the staff will be very busy, so we might not be able to respond to your emails right away. Please see Staying in Touch page for the best ways to get in touch with your children and with us during the camp.

SigmaCamp 2019 semilabs posted!

A preliminary list of SigmaCamp 2019 semilabs has been posted: http://sigmacamp.org/2019/semilabs
It includes our favorite semilabs from previous years such as Chemistry of Fire and some new semilabs, such as Constructing a Language.

This is work in progress, and minor changes are still possible.

Congratulations to PoM 2018-19 Winners

Problem of the month contest for 2018-19 has completed. Our faculty have graded all submitted solutions and determined the winners. This year we have 3 winners in each of two age categories: 8th grade and below, and 9th grade and above.

Winners in Category 5 (8th grade and below) are: 

1. The First place and a $100 Amazon gift card are awarded to Mark Kovrizhkin (178 points)
2. The Second place and a $75 Amazon gift card are awarded to Maria Yaskina (153 points)
3. The Third place and a $50 Amazon gift card are awarded to Nicholas Eastwood (147 points)

Winners in Category 10 (9th grade and above) are:
1. The First place and $100 Amazon gift cards are awarded to Matthew Chekhlov (176 points)
2. The Second place and a $75 Amazon gift card are awarded to Daniel Salkinder (173 points)
3. The Third place and a $50 Amazon gift card are awarded to Samuel Rosner (165 points)

All winners will receive their gift cards by mail in the next few weeks. Diplomas and some special prizes will be awarded to all winners at the Opening Ceremony of SigmaCamp 2019!

SigmaCamp 2019

SigmaCamp 2019 will take place in our usual location (Silver Lake Conference Center near Sharon, CT) in the week of August 11 - 18. The registration will open in the second half of February; if you want to be informed when the registration opens, please sign up for our mailing list.

SigmaCamp has started!

A very busy week has just started! To see our news updates and daily photos, please visit our blog.

Parents who want to send a message to their children can do so using our Sigma Telegraph. That page also contains instructions for contacting SigmaCamp staff in case of emergency.

A short film about SigmaCamp

Ekaterina Eremenko, an award-winning documentary filmmaker known for her films about math and mathematicians, had visited SigmaCamp in August 2017, and had produced a short movie about us: The SigmaFilm.

Admission decisions

Admission decisions for SigmaCamp 2018 are almost here! They will be sent out by 5pm on Tu, May 1. Make sure to check your email!

PoM 2017-18 winners

Problem of the month contest for 2017-18 has completed. Our faculty have graded all submitted solutions and determined the winners.
This year we have 3 winners in each of two age categories: 8th grade and below, and 9th grade and above.

Winners in Category 5 (8th grade and below) are:
1. The First place and a $100 Amazon gift card are awarded to Daniil Salkinder (187 points)
2. The Second place and a $75 Amazon gift card are awarded to Maria Yaskina (157 points)
3. The Third place and a $50 Amazon gift card are awarded to Daniel Yentin (140 points)

Winners in Category 10 (9th grade and above) are:
1. The First place and $100 Amazon gift cards are awarded to Sofiya Filippova(183 points)
2. The Second place and a $75 Amazon gift card are awarded to Sophie Kamenetsky (148 points)
3. The Third place and a $50 Amazon gift card are awarded to Victor Turbiner (137 points)

Completion of 2017-18 POM

Dear all: POM contest for 2017-18 is now closed. We will grade all solutions and declare winners by the end of February. Remember that winners of POM are accepted to SigmaCamp without the qualification quiz!

SigmaCamp 2018 Information

SigmaCamp 2018 will take place August 12-19, at Silver Lake Conference Center, CT. The application will open on March 1.

October PoM hints posted

Deadline for submitting solutions of PoM was yesterday, November 5. Today we have posted hints for problems in Math, Physics, and Biology. If you had difficulty solving the problems without hints, check them! You can submit your solutions until November 10, but the point value of the solutions submitted during this period will be only 60% of the full regular submission.

October POM have been posted

You can find them here: http://sigmacamp.org/pom/problems2017
Remember, you can join PoM at any moment -- so if you missed September PoM, it is not too late to start!

September PoM hints posted

Deadline for submitting solutions of PoM was yesterday, October 5. Today we have posted hints for problems in Math and Physics. If you had difficulty solving the problems without hints, check them! You can submit your solutions until October 10, but the point value of the solutions submitted during this period will be only 60% of the full regular submission.

Camp photos

Do you know that all blog posts include camp photos? To see them, click on "read more" link on Blog page. It might take a minute for the photos to laod - there are lots of them!

More photos coming tonight - once we select the best ones from 2,000+ photos we take daily!

SigmaCamp Begins Sunday, August 13th!

Parents and students, please visit the Arrivals page to review arrival instructions and things to bring.

Parents, please review the instructions for communication with our staff and with your child, which can be found here.

Admission decisions

Admission decisions have been sent to all applicants. Please check your email!

Admitted students will get emails with instructions on filling the necessary paperwork, submitting the payment, and most importantly, on choosing the semilabs! Please pay attention to deadlines for doing this.

Application to SigmaCamp 2017 is now open!

So if you want to spend the week of August 13-20

• learning how lie detectors work and building your own one
• programming an autonomous rover navigating by GPS
• learning about fractals or traveling salesman problem
• expressing and analyzing proteins
• launching rockets and boomerangs
• ... and engaging in many, many other activities under the guidance of scientists and researchers from StonyBrook University, Brookhaven National Lab, Harvard Medical School and other top scientific institutions

then fill your application form today!

Application deadline is April 18; more info is available here.

Conclusion of POM 2016-17

All January 2017 POM submissions have been graded. See the updated scores here.

This completes our 2016-17 Problem of the Month contest. The names of the winners and students admitted to SigmaCamp2017 without the Qualifying Quiz will be announced shortly.

Congratulations to all participants! See you in SigmaCamp!

SigmaCamp 2017!

Dear SigmaCampers:
we are happy to announce that we start accepting applications for SC 2017 on March 1, 2017! The dates of the camp are Aug 13-20, 2017. We will post other relevant information as we get closer to March 1.

Also, the currently posted Problem of the Month assignment (Jan 2017) is the last assignment of this season; once it is graded, we will announce the winners who will be offered admission to SC 2017 without the qualification quiz.

November POM grades

Grades for November problems have now been posted - check your account to see your score!

Also, we have posted hints for December POM.

November POM deadline

Please remember that today is the last day to submit solutions for November POM without penalty. Hints will be posted tomorrow; solutions submitted after that will be graded lower.

Also, the grades and comments for October problems are now posted; the scoreboard has been updated.

November POM updated

Please note that November POM problems were updated (in previously posted problem set, we had posted old set of Physics problems by mistake. This has been fixed in the updated assignment.)

Photos Day 3 are posted

Team photos and photos from day 3 have been posted

September PoM solutions

Solutions of September Problem of the Month have been posted here.

Stay tuned for a new problem set, which will be posted tomorrow!

JC Application 2017 is now open!

Please find details here.

SigmaCamp 2016 Photos

Thank you all for a great season! We will begin to post our extensive collection of photos from Sigma 2016 shortly. Campers: Please check your emails to find the link to the end-of-season survey and fill it out if you haven't already, to help us make Sigma 2017 even better.

List of lectures

List of lectures in SC 2016 is now available here (15 Mb file).

SC 2016 admission decisions

Admission decisions have been emailed to campers and parents! please check your email.

This year we had many more applications than available spots, so we had to turn down a number of great candidates. Those who were rejected - remember, winners of our Problem of the Month contest are admitted without the qualifying quiz.

Admitted students will receive more info in the coming days. Meanwhile, here is the list of semilabs offered in SigmaCamp 2016:
http://sigmacamp.org/2016/semilabs.

Application deadline

The application deadline for SC 2016 is in less than a week!

If you haven't yet registered, please register now. If you have registered, please check the status of your application here to verify that we have received the required materials (recommendation letters, essay, etc).

Applications for SC 2016 are now accepted!

We are happy to announce that we are now accepting applications for SC 2016. Application deadline is April 18, 2016.
Details are available here.

Good luck with your application!

POM 2015-16 completes

All PoM problems for January have been graded. This completes 2015-16 Problem of the Month contest: January was the last month. To see your grades, log in to your account. To see where you stand in comparison with other participants, please see the score table; for privacy reasons, it only lists participants' ID rather than names.

According to the contest rules, 25 students with top scores in each age category (grade 8 and younger and grades 9-10) who earned 25 points or more will be accepted to SigmaCamp without the Qualification quiz. A letter will be sent to the winners to confirm their achievement.

If you are not one of the winners, please stay tuned for the qualification quiz, which will be posted by March 1.

See you all in SigmaCamp 2016!

January PoM - hints available

Regular submission deadline for January Problem of the Month has passed.
We have now posted some hints for these problems and will be accepting post-deadline solutions (at a penalty)
until midnight of Feb 10.

January PoM

Submissions of solutions for December Problem of the Month is now closed. Submitted solutions will be graded by the end of January.

And here comes the new set of problems, January PoM.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to the whole Sigma Community - campers, parents, faculty, counselors!

Best of luck in the new year!

And please check the grades for November PoM.

November PoM - hints available

Regular submission deadline for November Problem of the Month has passed.
We have now posted some hints for these problems and will be accepting post-deadline solutions (at a penalty)
until midnight of Dec 10.

Also, you can now check your scores for October problems.

October PoM hints

Deadline for submitting October PoM has passed. However, we will be accepting late sumissions until the midnight of Nov 10, and we have posted hints for some of the problems here. Late submissions will incur some penalties as described in the official rules.

Day 5 photos posted!

Get them in the usual place.

Day 4 photos posted!

Get them in the usual place.

Day 3 photos posted!

Get them in the usual place.

Day 1 Photos posted

Day 1 photos were added to the page of SigmaCamp 2015 photos. Note that there are two albums: one for lectures and semilabs, and the other for all other photos.

Day 0 photos are now posted!

Photos of day 0 (Sunday) are now posted for your viewing pleasure. See them (and team photos posted earlier) on SC 2015 Photos page.

As in the previous years, we will be posting new set of photos every week. Stay tuned for photos of Day 1 next week!

Junior Counselor Application Now Open

Read more about it here.

Campers Survey

Dear SigmaCampers:

Thank you for a great season! As you may know, as soon as Sigma ends, preparations for next year begin. The driving force between positive changes at SigmaCamp are campers like you: We really value campers' feedback.

So please fill out the survey below to help make Sigma2016 even better: sigmacamp.org/2015/survey

As our way to thank you for filling the survey, 10 people, randomly chosen from survey takers, will be given priority registration to any of the workshops of SC 2016!

Please read our news and check photos on our blog!

Information about contacting us (or your children) at the camp can be found on this page.

Semilab Selection and Camper Info

All admitted students -- please fill out the Personal Info form no later than May 15th. This is also where you select your semilabs.

Application Deadline

A reminder that the registration for SC 2015  closes on April 20, at 11:59PM.
You can check whether your application is complete here.

Problem of the Month Winners

The February 2015 Problem of the Month set, the last set of 2014-2015 POM season, have been graded! We congratulate our winners:

Sophia Colon

Daniel Salkinder

Michael Gerovitch

Arina Khotimsky

Michael Hadjiivanov

Anthony Roitman

Iris Brook

February PoM

February Problems of the Month are posted here.

This is our last PoM for 2014-2015!

December PoM Solutions and January Problems

Solutions for December PoM and January problems are now posted on the PoM page.

Photos - day 6

Robots in the maze and team photos, liquid nitrogen and of course, the Sigma Tournament! Find it all and more in the photos of day 6.

December PoM problems posted

Get them here. Solutions are due by Jan 5.

Also, check the photos from Day 4!

October POM grades posted

October PoM has been graded. Registered students can see their grades by logging to their account. You can also see the statistics here.
Do not forget: solutions of November PoM are due by Dec. 5.

Day 2 photos posted!

Find them here.

November PoM is here!

Junior Counselor Application

A new Problem of the Month season is just around the corner!

In a few days the registration for PoM 2014/15 will be open and on October 10th, the first set of problems will appear on our website. Each month, you will be challenged with new exciting problems in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, as well as Computer Science. You can find more detailes about the PoM contest here.

Dear SigmaParents, 

We would like to let you know that WiFi connection at Silver Lake is quite poor, and campers Skype with their parents with significant difficulties. We ask you to please refrain from casually asking your child to give you a call unless it is important -- the calls take a lot of campers' valuable time in the evening.

Campers: Important Info!

Connecticut requires all campers to provide a copy of their last physical exam with a doctor signature, as well as a copy of your insurance card. Please submit scans to forms@sigmacamp.org. Please bring the original form to camp.

Did you know SigmaCamp has a Facebook page?

We will be posting announcements both on SigmaCamp page and on our page in Facebook. Like us on Facebook if you would like to get these announcements or leave comments!

http://www.facebook.com/SigmaCamp

Members of the SigmaTeam are now departing for Silver Lake Conference to begin on-site preparations. We are very excited to see you there on Sunday!

SigmaCamp Forms

Every camper needs Permission and Release form and a completed Health form to participate in SigmaCamp. You can download them here.

Thank you to everyone who applied for SigmaCamp 2014.

We are proud to tell you that this year SigmaCamp received applications from 10 US States and 8 countries! Thank you very much for your enthusiasm!
Taking into account the fact that some school districts are in the middle of spring break right now, we will continue to accept teacher recommendations.

If you missed the deadline you can still apply for the waitlist. We encourage you to complete your application if you haven't already done so.

Question of the Week

The  Question of the Week, about the advanced SemiLabs at SigmaCamp, has now been posted, and the results of the last questions have been announced! If you already registered for SigmaCamp 2014, you have received an email with a link.

We are happy to announce that registration for Sigma Camp 2014 is now open!

Read more about SC2014 here and then visit this page to apply.

Application deadline is April 20, 2014.

October 2013 POM scores and comments are now available on your personal page. Also, you can check out the current standings!