Two students from UNR obtained first place in the Argentine Interuniversity Mathematics Competition, the most prestigious competition in the country in this discipline.
Federico Mierez and Julián Cabrera, students of the Faculty of Exact Sciences, Engineering and Surveying of the UNR, obtained for the second consecutive year the first place in the Argentine Interuniversity Mathematics Competition (CIMA), the most prestigious competition in the country for undergraduate students, organized by the Argentine Mathematical Union (UMA).
In this edition, the competition mobilized 42 teams and 83 participants distributed across eleven federal venues: from Bahía Blanca and General Pico to Salta and Mendoza. Federico, a fifth-year Mathematics student, and Julián, a third-year Computer Science student, shared first place with a team from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), consolidating a leadership that the Universidad Nacional de Rosario He had not held that position for decades.
The history of this championship has a backdrop of institutional resilience. For a quarter of a century, the “Ernesto Paenza” Foundation organized the national competition, indelibly shaping generations of scientists. When the foundation ceased its activities in 2011, a void remained that seemed difficult to fill. It was the University of Malaga (UMA), heeding the call of young mathematicians and scientists, that stepped in.with the explicit endorsement of the popularizer Adrián Paenza, who launched the Competition to give continuity to that legacy.
For the National University of Rosario (UNR), Federico and Julián's victory represents a historic milestone. Until last year, the University had gone 35 years without achieving first place. These two young men not only broke that streak in 2024, but this year they confirmed that it was not a fluke, but rather the result of a sustained level of excellence in regional public education.
What sets these competitors apart is their approach to the discipline. “People in general don’t tend to like math, but we see it as an art form,” explains Julián Cabrera. For him, solving a complex problem isn’t a mechanical act of applying formulas, but rather the construction of valid reasoning that starts from known premises to arrive at new conclusions.
“It’s like an artist’s effort to create a good work. If it’s a writer, they look for a good book; in mathematics, it’s the art of reaching a substantial conclusion. It’s not all about applying a known procedure; it requires creativity. Each line of reasoning is like a brushstroke on a canvas,” Julián adds with a passion that strips numbers of their supposed coldness.
Federico agrees and elaborates on the idea of autonomy that the exact sciences provide. “Mathematics is the area that gives you the most freedom to move as you wish, as long as you do things correctly. That idea of mathematics as something algorithmic, of steps to follow, is completely false. You can work with total freedom of movement, building your own work by assembling blocks in your own way,” says the student, who is currently in the final stage of his degree.
The DNA of the Polytechnic
The partnership between Mierez and Cabrera didn't begin in the university halls, but much earlier. Both are graduates of the "General San Martín" Higher Polytechnic Institute, a talent incubator in Rosario. It was there that they discovered their vocation and began training for the Mathematics Olympiad, eventually representing the country in world and Ibero-American competitions.
“I was always interested in science, but the competitions led me to choose mathematics,” Federico recalls. For them, training, far from being a burden, is a shared hobby. “We look for problems online, we get together to brainstorm. It’s what we love to do,” they confess.
That prior experience was key to facing the dynamics of the CIMA: six problems and a five-hour time limit. Unlike a traditional academic exam, the competition isn't designed to be solved in its entirety. It's a test of intellectual endurance. “We read the test and solve the first few problems individually. When it starts to get complex, we cooperate. In this edition, we came out on top with 41 out of 60 points. The goal is to achieve partial scores, to advance as much as possible until the very last minute,” they explain.
The support of their families was a pillar, albeit with different nuances. In Julián's case, his mother nurtured his curiosity from childhood, teaching him numbers even before he started primary school. For Federico, the support was emotional: “My parents are doctors; the field of exact sciences is unfamiliar to them, but they saw my potential and encouraged me to go to the Polytechnic. Their support has been fundamental throughout my career.”
Today, their paths diverge but share the same roots. Federico plans to dedicate himself to academic research and pursue a doctorate in mathematical analysis. Julián, meanwhile, already works as a software engineer, applying the foundations of computing to the private sector.
Even when discussing the future and Artificial Intelligence, they maintain an analytical perspective. “AI is already solving skills-related problems, but we see it as an extra helping hand. It’s like a more powerful and specialized Google that helps access results, but the thinking remains human,” they reflect.
Beyond the award and recognition, Federico and Julián champion mathematics as a tool for everyday life. “The most important thing lies in that word: thinking,” Federico concludes. “Structured yet creative thinking helps you have a clearer and more direct vision to analyze any premise in your life, anything you encounter, not necessarily related to numbers.”
With the CIMA trophy once again in Rosario, the Faculty of Exact Sciences at the UNR celebrates two of its finest representatives. Federico and Julián didn't just win a competition; they demonstrated that, in times of automated responses and closed algorithms, human reasoning remains the most sophisticated work of art.
Journalist: Victoria Arrabal