Top mathematicians will visit Chișinău; three days remain to register for APEXScientific
The international program APEXScientific will reach Moldova. Talented students and math Olympians will learn from world leading experts at a summer school in Chișinău from July 26 to August 15
The APEXScientific program first ran in Romania in 2024 and achieved remarkable success.
Researcher Daniel Funeriu, Romania’s Minister of Education from 2009 to 2012, said on the Moldova 1 show “Bună dimineața” that the programme began as a mathematics excellence initiative and expanded in 2025 to include chemistry. It targets talented students, “perhaps the best in the world” in these fields.
This year, in partnership with the Technical University of Moldova, the Apex Mathematics program will take place in Moldova and bring together talented students from around the world. Three days remain until the application deadline.
The teaching staff includes leading figures in global science. Among them are Olivier Schiffmann from Paris-Saclay University, ranked first worldwide in mathematics, and Siarhei Finski from École Polytechnique. Daniel Funeriu says this program ranks among the best of its kind worldwide.
“High school students rarely learn from Nobel Prize laureates or scholars at this level,” the researcher stressed.
The selection process relies strictly on merit and follows a rigorous standard. Candidates must solve a set of extremely difficult problems, possibly harder than those at international Olympiads, according to Daniel Funeriu.
Previous editions brought participants from South Korea, Canada, the United States, France, Israel, Ukraine, and Romania. Moldova was represented by Marius Cerlat, a mathematics Olympiad medalist.
As access to information expands, the role of schools shifts. Teachers must move beyond delivering existing knowledge and help students develop the right attitude toward the unknown.
“We want young people who create. From an early age, they must learn to innovate and think beyond textbooks and the internet. This is fundamental,” the researcher noted.
In the Apex Mathematics programme, a leading scientist will teach advanced concepts each morning, sometimes beyond master’s level, according to Daniel Funeriu.
About 50 students will attend the morning lectures. In the afternoon, they will work in groups of five with PhD students and other teachers to deepen what they learnt. Each group develops its own dynamic. Sessions usually run from 2:00 p.m. to around 8:00 p.m., reflecting the students’ strong engagement, the former Romanian Education Minister said.
In Bucharest, this year’s APEXScientific edition will also include the APEX Chemistry programme, held from July 23 to August 12. Students will complete three weeks of intensive chemistry training, including lab work, advanced research, and academic development.
