Yulia's Dream
Yulia's Dream
Yulia’s Dream is a free math enrichment and research program for exceptional high school students (grades 10-11) from Ukraine. Under this program, students meet online once a week in small groups to study advanced math topics beyond high school curriculum or work on math research projects under the guidance of academic mentors from MIT and other universities in the U.S. and Europe. The instruction is available in Ukrainian, English, and Russian.
Yulia’s Dream is an initiative under PRIMES – Program for Research in Mathematics, Engineering and Science for High School Students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The research and reading groups at Yulia's Dream operate similarly to those at PRIMES-USA, the remote section of PRIMES.
The first annual cycle, 2022-2023, started in late May 2022. On May 14-15, 2023, the First Annual Conference was held online. Final research papers are posted online.
The second annual cycle, 2023-2024, started in October 2023. On June 13, 2024, the Second Annual Conference was held online.
To apply, solve the 2024 entrance problem set (the English or Ukrainian version) and submit your solutions with an online application by October 8, 2024. Continuing students do not have to submit solutions, but must request a recommendation letter from their current mentor.
We look forward to receiving your applications!
The timeline for the 2024-2025 cycle:
- July 12, 2024: Admissions open
- October 8: Application deadline
- Mid-October: Admissions decisions
- Mid-October – December: Phase I, Guided Reading Period
- December 20: Reading report due
- January – April 2025: Phase II, Active research period / Advanced reading period (for reading groups)
- May 2025: Phase III, Write-up period
- May 20: Final research paper draft due
- Early June: Online conference
- June 15: Final research papers and expository papers due
For preparation, please consult the 2022 entrance problem set and its solutions, and also the 2023 entrance problem set.
Recommended readings:
А.Б. Сосиньский, Mathematical English. Пiдручник англiйської для математикiв.
Pavel Etingof, How to Succeed in Mathematical Research / Павло Етiнгоф, Як досягти успiху в математичних дослiдженнях.
Yulia’s Dream is dedicated to the memory of Yulia Zdanovska, a 21-year-old graduate of the National University of Kyiv, a silver medalist at the 2017 European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad, and a teacher for the “Teach for Ukraine” program who was killed by a Russian-fired missile in her home city of Kharkiv. We hope to help other Ukrainian boys and girls fulfill her dream.
Biographical podcast about Yulia Zdanovska (in Russian and English)
Yulia's Dream in the Media:
“Yulia’s Dream” to support young, at-risk Ukrainian students of mathematics: MIT Department of Mathematics launches a free math enrichment and research program for Ukrainian high school students and refugees (MIT News, March 30, 2022)
Siobhan Roberts, In Ukraine, Mathematics Offers Strength in Numbers (The New York Times, September 12, 2023)
To support Yulia’s Dream, we need your help! Please send a check to:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
P. O. Box 412926
Boston, MA 02241-2926
Make the check out to "MIT" and in the memo field put "Yulia's Dream for PRIMES fund # 3653720."
Or, you can just click on the button below and choose "PRIMES Endowed Fund in Mathematics (3653720)" and designate your contribution “in memory of Yulia Zdanovska.”
We appreciate your support!
With questions, please contact Yulia's Dream program coordinator Dr. Dmytro Matvieievskyi