Recently, the results of the 2025 "Higher Education Press Cup" National College Student Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM), jointly organized by the China Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, were announced. This year, 207 teams from our university participated, winning a total of 109 awards. These include 3 National First Prizes, 8 National Second Prizes, 30 Guangdong Provincial First Prizes (including 11 national awards), 31 Provincial Second Prizes, and 48 Provincial Third Prizes, resulting in an award rate of 53%! Our university has reached new heights in terms of the number of participating teams, the quality of awards, and the total number of awards in this year's contest. The list of national awards won by our university is as follows:
The National College Student Mathematical Contest in Modeling, as one of the first 19 competitions included in the "Ranking of University Discipline Competitions," has a history of over thirty years. It is currently listed in the "University Competition Evaluation and Management System" directory (ranked 5th) and is one of the largest comprehensive discipline competitions in terms of participation from universities across China. In 2025, the contest saw participation from 1,837 institutions/campuses from China and countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Finland, and Malaysia, with 68,311 teams (61,463 undergraduate teams, 6,848 vocational college teams) and over 200,000 participants, setting a new record for participation.
The School of Mathematical Sciences at Shenzhen University places great emphasis on the organization and training for the National College Student Mathematical Contest in Modeling. The school's teaching and research team for discipline competitions initiated the recruitment and selection of instructors for the 2025 MCM guidance team across the university in November 2024, forming a team of 23 instructors with strong mathematical backgrounds and computer skills. At the end of March 2025, promotional activities for the contest were carried out, and student registration was organized. From April to June, 13 teachers specializing in mathematical modeling from Shenzhen University, Beijing Institute of Technology, and Shenzhen MSU-BIT University conducted joint training for the registered students. In mid-May, students were organized to participate in the Shenzhen University Mathematical Contest in Modeling and the "Shenzhen Cup" Mathematical Modeling Challenge. From July to the end of August, respective instructors provided pre-competition guidance and targeted training for their teams. In early September, to address the issue of having many participating teams but no unified competition venue, the school made all available meeting rooms and laboratories available for student use and also applied for seminar rooms on the 8th floor of the Zhili Building for the competition. After the contest began, Vice Dean Han Yu visited multiple competition sites to understand the students' participation status and any issues encountered, actively coordinating solutions with the guidance team. In early October, the school organized some teams recommended for the national contest to go to Guangzhou to participate in the on-site defense session.
Vice Dean Han Yu and Associate Professor Li Songchen visiting participating students
Associate Professor Zhang Ailin providing pre-competition training for students
Students Cai Cunwei, He Ziheng, and Zheng Ruolin at the provincial contest defense session
In the next step, the School of Mathematical Sciences will continue to strengthen the organization and coordination of the Mathematical Contest in Modeling, reinforce the philosophy of "student-centered, outcome-oriented," continuously enhance the construction of mathematical modeling courses and pre-competition joint training, and implement the selection of participating teams through the university-level contest to improve the overall level of the teams and their practical capabilities in the modeling competition.
