Each summer, 80 outstanding students from around the world gather at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to participate in the Research Science Institute (RSI) – an international summer program for high-school students. This year, 100 students participated in RSI for the first time.

The High-School-Students’ Institute of Mathematics and Informatics (HSSIMI) selected the Bulgarian RSI participants based on the students’ performance in HSSIMI events after a special interview. Deyan Hadzhi-Manich from “Dr Petar Beron” High School of Mathematics–Varna, and Radostin Cholakov from “Acad. Kiril Popov” Mathematics High School in Plovdiv were selected for participation in RSI’23.

During the summer school, students read the most current literature in their field, develop and execute a detailed research plan, and submit oral and written reports on their findings.

RSI students first participate in a week of intensive STEM classes where they are worked with by distinguished faculty members, often including Nobel laureates. The “heart” of RSI is the five-week research internship, where students produce their individual projects under the guidance of mentors who are experienced scientists and researchers. During the last week of RSI, students prepare written and oral presentations of their research projects.

Both Bulgarian representatives presented themselves more than worthy, with Radostin Cholakov ranking among the five best both written and oral presentations of his project (Radostin’s award-winning development is also the only one in the field of informatics). This is the first such success for a Bulgarian participant in RSI.

Assoc. Prof. Evgenia Sendova from the Institute of Mathematics and Informatics of BAS is a long-time tutor of RSI participants. Thanks to her efforts Bulgarian participation in the prestigious summer school is possible and increasingly successful.

“Since the establishment of the High-School-Students‘ Institute of Mathematics and Informatics we have had multiple Top 5 winners for written mathematics or informatics projects, 1 time for an oral presentation of a mathematics project, but now for the first time we have a representative in both categories at the same time!” points out Assoc. Prof. Sendova.

For more information please visit https://math.bas.bg/