Student Challenges

Sony Opens Math Challenge to U.S. for First Time

• By Joshua Bolkan
• 02/25/15

Sony Computer Science Laboratories (Sony CSL) is making its free Global Math Challenge (GMC) available in the United States for the first time.

"Featuring beautifully designed brain teasers engineered to encourage a combination of intuition and intelligence, the GMC pits math minds from around the world against each other, with participation expected from the U.S., Japan, China, Spain and beyond," according to a news release. "Will New York have more math fans than New Jersey? How will the U.S. stand up against China when it comes to mathematics? With the GMC, we can find out."

Participation in the GMC and basic results are free. Participants can upgrade to the GMC Standard Plan for $20 to find out how they rank compared to all other participants and for "additional insight into their logical thinking" with step-by-step explanations of the problems and highlights of strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement.

The challenge will take place Sunday March 22 between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. in participants' local time zone. Competitors will have one hour to complete the test.

"We believe that the GMC meets a demand for exciting, engaging content that can help to motivate people of all ages to get involved in more activities relating to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)," said Masaaki Isozu, senior product manager at Sony CSL, in a prepared statement. "Math is the one subject where people can compete worldwide on a level playing field, without any concerns about physical or cultural barriers."

Registration is currently open to anyone 13 or older. Visit global-math.com for more information or to register.