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.

The third annual cycle, 2024-2025, started in November 2024.

The timeline for the 2024-2025 cycle:

• July 12, 2024: Admissions open. The entrance problem set is posted online
• October 8: Application deadline
• Early November: Admissions decisions
• November 2024 – January 2025: Phase I, Guided Reading Period
• January 20: Reading report due
• February – May 2025: Phase II, Active research period / Advanced reading period (for reading groups)
• Early June: Online conference
• June 15: Final research papers and expository papers due

Recommended readings:

PRIMES reading list

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)