Tremendous Tradition: Vrije Universiteit Brussel celebrates Pi Day with Mathematical Contest

14 March is Pi Day so once again, fifthand sixth-year students from all over Flanders will travel to VUB in Brussels - or join in online, hopefully for the last time - to take part in the grand final of the WWW maths challenge. WWW, that is the Wiskunnend Wiske Wedstrijd, or Mathematical Wisdom Contest , and is the creation of the famous physicist, mathematician and VUB alumna Ingrid Daubechies , who devised the game for her alma mater. Daubechies wanted to organise a competition for young people in secondary education to help them discover the charms of mathematics: "Learning how to play an instrument is not the same as making music yourself. The latter is much more fun. It's the same with maths. That's what I wanted to bring about with WWW." Every year some 2,000 pupils from the fifth and sixth year of secondary school all over Flanders take part in the grand final on Pi Day - 14 March, or 3.14, a high day for all mathematicians. During the final, the pupils are presented with four assignments and a game in which their young brains are pushed to the limit.