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TheIntegration Bee is an annualintegral calculus competition pioneered in 1981 by Andy Bernoff, an applied mathematics student at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).[1][2] Similar contests are administered each year in many universities and colleges across the United States and in a number of other countries.
Prospective participants may first need to take a qualifying exam.[1] The contest is then arranged in a manner similar to a sports tournament, with those who incorrectly evaluate integrals after a certain number of trials being eliminated. Constants of integration may be ignored, but the final answer must be in reduced form and in terms of the original variable.[3] At some institutions, such as MIT, contestants will evaluate assigned integrals on a chalkboard in front of the audience.[4] In some others, such as theUniversity of Connecticut, they may do so in their seats on paper.[3] Contestants may either be all students from the hosting institution (such as MIT or theUniversity of California, Berkeley),[5][6] undergraduates only (such as at theUniversity of Connecticut),[3] or undergraduates and high-school students (such as at theUniversity of North Texas),[7] or all university students as well as high school students from the same area (such asWest Virginia University).[8] At theUniversity of Dayton (Ohio), students compete in teams of two.[9]
Participants are expected to be familiar with the standard methods of integration.[7]
Integration Bee contests continue to be held at MIT, with the champion awarded a hat carrying the title "Grand Integrator".[4] Integration Bee contests are now regularly conducted in major American colleges and universities.
In theSouth, they are theUniversity of Florida,[10]Florida Polytechnic University,[11] West Virginia University,[8]Louisiana Tech University,[12], theUniversity of North Texas[7], andNorth Carolina State University.[13]
In theNortheast, they are theUniversity of Scranton,[14]Connecticut College,[15]Central Connecticut State University,[16]Columbia University,[17] and theState University of New York.[18]
In theMidwest, they are theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison,[19]Prairie State College (Illinois),[20] theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign,[21] and the University of Dayton (Ohio).[9]
In theWest, they areBrigham Young University,Utah Valley University,[22]Fresno State University,[23]Cosumnes River College,[24] the University of California, Berkeley,[6] various other institutions in California,[25] andOregon State University.[26]
The Louisiana/Mississippi chapter of theMathematical Association of America is responsible for holding the Integration Bee in these two states[27] and theAmerican Mathematical Society at the University of Connecticut.[3]
In Egypt, three integration bees were held in 2023. The first one was held by the Department of Mathematics atCairo University in April. The second was held by the Department of Engineering of the same school; this event was open to freshmen only. The third was held in theZewail City of Science, Technology and Innovation.[citation needed]
A Philippine integration competition (often shortened asInteg Bee) was originally held four times at theUniversity of the Philippines Diliman, located inQuezon City, and sponsored by UP Physics Association (UPPA). Subsequently, the competition was scaled up to allow undergraduates of other Philippine universities to participate.[28] One typical event in 2014 at the PhilippineNational Institute of Physics, allowed contestants to test their accuracy and speed, capability in mental solving, and mastery in evaluating integrals.[28] The winner received a cash prize of 5,000Philippine pesos (about €100 or US$113), whilst two runners-up received 1,000 pesos (about €20 or US$22).[28]
In Bangladesh, Chittagong University of Engineering & Technology (CUET) made history by organizing the country's first-ever Integration Bee competition in November 2024. The event featured two stages: an initial written round[29] followed by a series of one-on-one matches. From the written round, 16 students advanced to compete in 1v1 duels, resulting in eight matches before the quarterfinals. The competition then progressed through the quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final match, with an additional match held to determine the second runner-up. The CUET Schrödinger Society, in collaboration with the Department of Mathematics, honored the top three participants, including the "Grand Integrator", with custom-designed metal crests and medals. All 16 finalists received uniquely crafted medals, and the top three winners were awarded prize money as part of the recognition for their achievements. The event was live-streamed on the official Facebook page of the CUET Integration Bee, allowing a wider audience to witness this innovative academic competition.
In the United Kingdom, the Integration Bee is held at theUniversity of Cambridge,[30] which welcomes participants from other British universities, includingUniversity of Oxford,Imperial College London,Durham University andUniversity of Warwick. Elsewhere in the English-speaking world, the contest is held at theUniversity of New South Wales, Australia,[31] and theIndian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune.[32]
In Poland, the Integration Bee has been adopted at the University of Warsaw under the name The Grand Integration Tournament UW (Wielki Turniej Całkowania UW). The tournament has been held annually since 2022 and is organized jointly by the Faculty Student Councils of Mathematics, Physics, and MISMaP. The event is sponsored by Jane Street, while the competition problems are prepared by the KPM (Mathematics Enthusiasts’ Society). Established traditions of the tournament include 3D-printed medals for the top three competitors, manufactured by the Faculty of Physics in Makerspace@UW, as well as the use ofHagoromo chalk.
In Switzerland, the Integration Bee was held at theÉcole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne for the first time in 2023.
In Austria, the Integration Bee Vienna was organized for the first time by two students Maksym Czarniecki & Samuel Krech in May 2024 and hosted at the faculty of mathematics of theUniversity of Vienna.[33]
In Germany, there have been various events in the style of an Integration Bee. In 2024, bothHeidelberg University and theUniversity of Bonn held their first competitions, in May and November, respectively.[34][35]
In Spain,Barcelona (Catalonia,Spain), the Integration Bee takes place atPolytechnic University of Catalonia, inside the Math and Statistics Faculty (FME). Since 2023, the contest is held around the start or May.[36] All editions have counted with more than 50 participants. The second Integration Bee held in Spain has been taking place since 2025 inMadrid and is organized by the Interdisciplinary Mathematics Institute, the Student Association Cometas and the Faculty of Mathematical Science of the Complutense University of Madrid.[37]
InLisbon,Portugal, the Integration Bee was organized for the first time in 2025 atInstituto Superior Técnico (IST) -Universidade de Lisboa, and adopted a format that allowed students to participate individually or in pairs.[38]
While integral calculus is no longer an actively researched topic in mathematics, there is some correlation between success in the integration bee and success in other areas of mathematics. On a more individual level the winners of the integration bee are held in high honor by their colleagues and professors alike.[4]
