Online Academic Enrichment
Intensive Exploration
Real-Time Online Instruction
College-Level Workload
Student Engagement
Academic Tracks
Courses meet daily, Monday–Friday, for live classroom instruction. The virtual class period will be held in both the morning (8:00–11:00am Pacific Time) and afternoon (5:00–8:00pm Pacific Time), and participants will be assigned to attend just one of the available meeting times. The exact class start times will be set closer to the program start.
Program I – Abstract Algebra & Number Theory
Program I topics are introduced through five motivating problems such as limitations of straight-edge and compass constructions, classification of patterns in two dimensions, error-correcting codes, cryptography, and the analysis of symmetry in structures.
The mathematics central to solving these problems comes from the areas of abstract algebra and number theory. Abstract algebra originated in the early part of the 19th century through the study of polynomial equations. This branch of mathematics lies at the core of many areas of modern mathematical research. Number theory concerns properties of the integers, and has its origins in ancient mathematics. Number theory remains a very active field of study with interesting open problems and important applications in computer science.
Program II – Algebraic Topology
Program II centers on algebraic topology, a major area of current mathematics research.
Topology is the study of the properties of shapes that remain unaffected by deformations. For example, a sphere made out of rubber can be deformed into the shape of a cube. While it may appear that a sphere and a cube don't have that much in common, it turns out that they are topologically equivalent and in a way that can be made precise mathematically. This course will explore different ways of analyzing topological properties of shapes using algebraic concepts, such as the notion of group.
Please note that Program II is only available during Session One this summer. See more details about the session dates below.
2022 Dates and Courses
Session One Dates
Session One Courses
Program II, 5:00–8:00pm Pacific Time
Session Two Dates
Session Two Courses
Program I, 5:00–8:00pm Pacific Time
Online Classroom Technology Requirements
Computer
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Internet Connection
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Webcam
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Headphones & Microphone
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Suitable Learning Environment
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Engaging Student Life

Build Connections Around the World

Participate in Student Life Workshops
Daily Expectations
Participants have full daily schedules which incorporate the academic and social aspects of the program. Class time and student life activities are scheduled in an effort to accommodate multiple time zones. Each participant will have a unique schedule as they join our online community from their homes around the world.
In general, students can expect to have roughly 3-5 hours of academic work per weekday, in addition to the daily live class period. Outside of the scheduled class period, students are able to set their own schedule for when they work on class assignments and problem sets.
History
Timeline
In its first year, all SUMaC students came from Northern California, mainly the San Francisco Bay Area. In year two, students joined from throughout California. By 1997, SUMaC was attracting students from out of state. The first international students joined in 1998. Over the years, SUMaC has hosted students from more than 50 countries.
Fall 1994: Stanford University Mathematics Camp (SUMaC) began in Fall 1994 when Professors Rafe Mazzeo and Ralph Cohen obtained funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to develop a new program in mathematics at Stanford intended for high school students. Rick Sommer soon joined the founding team.
1995-1996: SUMaC enrolled just 12 students in 1995, and then grew to 36 students in 1996. The founding team decided to keep enrollment at SUMaC to a maximum of 40 students in order to preserve key features of the SUMaC experience.
1997: The Program II course was offered for the first time in 1997 to a group of just four students returning from the previous year. In the coming years Program II grew to include approximately 40% of the SUMaC participants each year, and the Program II topics have varied from Complex Analysis to Topology.
2020: In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, SUMaC was transitioned into an online program and successfully continued the tradition of engaging students in a deep, meaningful exploration of mathematics. The online model was designed to accommodate students across two sessions, so the program was able to expand to accommodate 60 students in total—30 in each session—without diminishing the key benefits and features of the small program.
Alumni
Meet some of our outstanding alumni that are doing innovative work.
- Sanjay Dastoor Founder/CEO of Boosted Boards
- Smita Saxena, Founder/CEO of Stanza
- Olga Russakovsky, Princeton University
- Loren Hough, University of Colorado, Boulder
- Henry Adams, Colorado State University
- Erik Carlsson, University of California, Davis
- Inna Zakharevich, Cornell University
- Olya Mandelshtam, Brown University
- Otis Chodosh, Stanford University
- Pak Hin Lee, Mathematics Institute at the University of Warwick
- Christopher Eur, NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University
