PROMYS is a challenging program designed to encourage ambitious high school students to explore the creative world of mathematics. Each summer, approximately 60 high school students from around the country gather on the campus of Boston University for six weeks of rigorous mathematical activity. Through their intensive efforts to solve an assortment of unusually challenging problems in Number Theory, participants will practice the art of mathematical discovery.



Students are advised by resident junior and assistant counselors who have just graduated high school, as well as college-aged counselors who are embarking on their own mathematical careers at some of our nation's finest universities (Brown, California Institute of Technology, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Rochester Institute of Technology, Stanford, SUNY Stony Brook, UC San Diego, University of Chicago, and Yale, among others). In addition, the returning students, who share dormitory rooms with the first-year students, are a constant source of helpful hints and suggestions. Senior mathematicians provide an additional resource for students by holding problem sessions for groups of 11-12 up to three times per week.



The PROMYS program aims to provide an environment for talented young people that will arouse their curiousity and encourage a deep personal involvement with the creative elements of mathematics and science. It is designed to encourage habits of thought that will lead to scientific independence and creativity. At the same time, it seeks to foster interaction between the PROMYS community and the larger community of research mathematicians and scientists currently working in academia and industry.