The 86th Annual Putnam Competition will take place Saturday, December 5, 2026.
The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition (the Putnam) is the preeminent mathematics competition for undergraduate college students in the United States and Canada. Famous winners include Nobel laureates Richard Feynman and Kenneth Wilson and Fields Medalists John Milnor and David Mumford.
At the same time, it serves as an event for people who enjoy exploring and solving interesting and non-standard mathematics problems. We usually meet on Mondays at 12:00pm in Math 105 (starting September 21) to solve and discuss problems in an informal atmosphere. If everything goes according to plan we will have some food (like pizza).
The best way of getting better at problem solving is through practice.
Kiran Kedlaya
keeps a list of old Putnam exams (with solutions) as well as some other resources.
To register: if you are a UBC student and plan to write the Putnam exam you can register
here. Please do so before the end of November.
The actual Putnam exam will take place on Saturday, December 5, 2026 in MATX 1100 starting at 8am.