Summer of Math Exposition

It has to be about math.

Here we mean « math » very broadly, and more applied topics like physics or computer science are abundantly welcome. It just has to be the case that a viewer/reader might come away knowing something mathematical they didn't before.

The topic could be at any level, whether that's basic math for young children or higher-level math. If you're assuming a certain background level for the target audience, kindly mention it below. It's hard because we don't want to discourage topics with a very niche target audience, as those lessons can sometimes be the most valuable. However, if your lesson assumes particular expertise, e.g. a comfort with algebraic geometry, keep in mind that our judges may not fit into this category. So to actually win the contest, it's helpful if the topic is accessible to someone with, say, a background in standard undergrad math topics.

One entry per person / group

We hope you make more, but we only have the capacity to judge participants based on a single entry.

It has to be something new you make this summer

The spirit of this is to encourage people who've never put stuff online before. If you want to work on something you sort of started once before, that's probably fine, but it can't be something you already published before this contest. Optimally, you'd use this as a chance to try something new you otherwise might not have.

Creators can register until August 18, 2023 at 12:00 PM.

If you want to participate as a judge you can register at any time, even after the vote has open.

It has to be available in English: subtitles or translation are needed.

If you want to put out an explainer in another language, wonderful! Please do! But the judges here will be english speakers, so to be considered for the contest the lesson has to be accessible to them.

By registering as a creator you agree to the following copyright notice:

I have permission to use all material (music, video clips, images, software, etc.) within my entry for commercial purposes. I have not used any Creative Commons Non-Commercial or copyrighted work unless I have explicit permission from the copyright holder to use their material. If I have used Creative Commons BY work, I have provided appropriate attribution. If I have used Creative Commons Share-Alike, I have made sure my entry is also licensed under a Creative Commons license.

Exception: We have a standing agreement with Desmos that you may use this software in the competition.

Here's what we're looking for:

• Clarity: Jargon should be explained, the goals of the lesson should be understandable with minimal background, and the submission should generally display empathy for people unfamiliar with the topic.
• Motivation: It should be clear to the reader/viewer within the first 30 seconds why they should care.
• Novelty: It doesn't necessarily have to be an original idea or original topic, but it should offer someone an experience they might otherwise not have by searching around online. Some of the greatest value comes from covering common topics in better ways. Other times there's value in surfacing otherwise obscure ideas which more people should know about.
• Memorability: Something should make the piece easy to remember even several months later. Maybe it's the beauty of the presentation, the enthusiasm of the presenter, or the mind-blowingness of an aha moment.

A peer review process will help filter the better entries. Then the admins will manually select the best entries.

For longer works, judges might not be able to consume the full video/post. Again, what's hard about this is that sometimes great explainers are longer, such as a full lecture and we don't want to discourage those. Just understand that to select winners, there is only so much time available for review, so the substance of your work should be clearly visible with a 5-10 minute view.