~1000 registrations already, from IITs, IISc, BITS, and national institutions.

We are excited to invite you to Derive 2026, a three-round quantitative reasoning circuit brought to you by AMS(Algorithms & Mathematics Society), sponsored by Jane Street, built around the mathematics that quant firms actually screen for: probability, stochastic processes, and combinatorial game theory.

Every problem in this circuit has a derivation: a path from first principles to the answer. You cannot pattern-match through this problem set.

Details

Derive is a three-round contest:

Round I | PRIOR | 23 May 2026 | Online, Codeforces :

Competitive programming with quantitative depth. Expected value, martingales, decision-theoretic DP, and combinatorial game theory, pushed further than typical rated rounds. If you've trained for ICPC and spent time on Putnam-style problems, this round is built for you. Top performers qualify for POSTERIOR.

Round II | POSTERIOR :

This is where the contest moves fully into quant territory. Problems are built around stochastic processes, Bayesian inference, and model construction from scratch, no implementation pressure, pure reasoning. You won't be pattern-matching to a known algorithm. You'll be deriving. Think optimal stopping, ruin theory, and inference under uncertainty. Top finishers advance to CONVERGENCE.

Round III | CONVERGENCE | Offline Finals @ IIT :

Finalists form teams at the event. Each team receives a derivation-heavy mathematics problem and must build a solution from first principles.

The top teams then enter the Derivation Duel: a live face-off where they construct and defend derivations in real time, judged on mathematical rigour and argument quality, not just the final answer. After this, selected participants face problems co-designed with industry partners and structured around real quantitative stakes: Kelly Criterion under constraints, Monte Carlo reasoning, portfolio-theoretic decision making. One team walks away.

How Qualification Works

PRIOR → POSTERIOR: Top performers on the Codeforces ranklist qualify for Posterior.

POSTERIOR → CONVERGENCE: Top finishers from Posterior will advance to the offline IIT finals.

Slot counts to be announced. Registration and participation are completely free.

Prizes and Recognition

We want to make this an event worth competing for. Total prize pool of 2.5 lakh+, including a cash prize of 1.5 lakh+. All finalists will receive certificates, goodies, and direct visibility with Jane Street and industry partners present at CONVERGENCE.

Travel reimbursement (capped) will be provided to all finalists, so you can focus on the problems-not the logistics.

Apex Sponsor

Jane Street (Apex Partner): Jane Street works differently. We are a quantitative trading firm active on more than 200 trading venues across 45 countries. As a liquidity provider and market maker, we help form the backbone of global markets. Our approach is rooted in technology and rigorous quantitative analysis, but our success is driven by our people

More industry partners will be announced in the lead-up to Convergence, watch this space.

Problem Design Team

The problem set has been built and stress-tested by a team that includes ICPC World Finalists, Codeforces Grandmasters, International Grandmasters, and Masters. A huge thanks to every member of the problem design and testing team, a lot of thought and care has gone into every problem in this set.

Registration

Close to 1000 registrations already, from IITs, IISc, BITS, and international institutions. Participation is free.

PRIOR goes live on Codeforces on 23 May 2026. Register now at amsderive.in.

Questions about problem style or the circuit. We're happy to discuss.

Register: amsderive.in
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Community: Discord | LinkedIn

P(you pass) is low. P(you learn) = 1.

Best wishes,
Team AMS