Université Toulouse III Paul Sabatier - Fermat Junior Award

Benefit

For an outstanding contribution to mathematics, you will receive a one-off prize of 2,000 EUR. The prize money is provided by the Université Toulouse III – Paul Sabatier and is awarded once a year at a ceremony in Toulouse. Should there be multiple winning entries, the prize will be shared amongst the winners. Your award-winning work will also be published in the mathematics journal ‘Quadrature’, enabling it to reach a wider audience.

This is not a research paper. Rather, it is a short, easily understandable contribution to mathematics. This could, for example, be a new or particularly elegant proof, a fresh perspective on previously studied results, a result useful for teaching mathematics, or mathematical results that have been implemented in an algorithm with a rigorous justification. The article must not exceed ten pages, must be written in French and may contain illustrations or digital visualisations.

Eligibility

• Level: You study at a French lycée or higher education institution, up to Bac+3. This means the first three years after the baccalauréat: preparatory classes, university Licence years L1, L2 or L3, or the first years of an engineering school.
• Age: At the time of applying, you are 22 years old or younger.
• Field: Your contribution falls within the field of mathematics and is at the same level as the courses listed above.
• Language: Please write your post in French.
• Nationality: Applicants of all nationalities are welcome to apply. The key requirement is that you are studying at a French higher education institution.

How to apply

Please submit your application online or by post to the Institut de Mathématiques de Toulouse. The closing date for applications is 16 October 2026; the results will be announced in December 2026. Please enclose with your application a letter of recommendation from a maths teacher, a brief CV and proof of your enrolment for 2025–2026.

How realistic are your chances?

The award is cut narrowly: you must be an early-year maths student at a French institution, aged 22 or under, and produce an original, clearly written contribution. That keeps the field small compared with open scholarships. Since the prize rewards quality of ideas over length, a short but genuinely original piece backed by a strong teacher's recommendation gives a well-matched applicant real prospects.