mBank Foundation focuses on supporting the development of mathematical education. The “M for Maths” (“m jak matematyka”) strategy defines the foundation’s goals until 2020 and addresses the ever growing gap in science education. The foundation’s mission is to help children and teenagers learn mathematics. Our actions in this field are best summed up by the slogan: “Adding opportunities, multiplying talents”.

• In 2017, the mPower grant programme contributed nearly PLN 1.5 million to mathematics education. It exceeded the 2016 result by PLN 0.3 million and marked a four-year record.
• we supported 259 projects with the total of 35,000 participants: pupils, teachers and parents.

The projects we finance within the programme promote mathematics among young people in an innovative way. They show them that mathematics is an adventure and a subject which can be extremely useful in everyday life.

Within the mPower programme, we want to encourage teachers, parents and math enthusiasts to overcome the routine and go off the beaten track in mathematics education. Since 2014, we have been continuously learning through our experiences that creative and attractive teaching methods are a very effective way to present the world of mathematics and logic to children and youngsters. This way, young people are more willing to study these subjects. They can also use them more easily and gain satisfaction from it in their everyday lives.

As part of the programme, we finance unconventional educational measures addressed to children from at least 4th grade of primary school and from middle schools (until 2017) or high schools. In the fourth edition of the programme, the grants could be applied for by primary schools, middle schools, secondary schools, universities, NGOs, libraries and non-formal groups across Poland. We award grants ranging from PLN 2,000 to PLN 8,000.

Every year, we sum up the current and announce the next edition of the programme during the Math Picnic at the Copernicus Science Centre. In 2017, the main attraction of the picnic was the official beating of the Polish Record in representing the number Pi digits. It was attended by 360 pupils and teachers from over 30 schools participating in the third edition of the mPower programme.

We also support students and graduates in mathematics in the “Step into the Future” competition. We reward student theses describing innovative solutions in the field or new trends and research methods. We accept master or bachelor theses or theses in mathematics written independently and published ininternational scientific journals

The theses are evaluated by a seven-person jury, headed by Prof. Paweł Strzelecki, dean of the Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Mechanics, University of Warsaw.

•  The laureates of the first edition (which was announced in 2016) were presented and given the awards during the grand gala organised in March 2017. The first edition was won by Wojciech Górny from the University of Warsaw, who received PLN 20,000 and the “STEFCIO” statuette. His thesis was dedicated to the smallest gradient issues (Polish title: “Zagadnienia najmniejszego gradientu”) and written under the supervision of professor Piotr Rybka.
•  In April 2017, we opened the second edition of the competition.

The “Holiday with Mathematics” grant competition aims at providing children with attractive forms of spending holidays in the city, which are combined with learning mathematics. The projects of organisations and libraries that apply for grants should promote mathematics and show its usefulness in everyday life. By organising the programme, we wanted to give children access to free-of-charge activities, which are not only useful, but also allow them to relax, meet peers with similar interests and, at the same time, learn something new.

The pilot edition of the programme was carried out in Łódź. The second edition announced in May 2017 was open to NGOs and public libraries from six largest cities in Poland.

In 2017, we co-financed the total of 18 projects addressed to children and youngsters from Gdańsk, Łódź, Kraków, Poznań, Warsaw and Wrocław. The overall pool of funds granted to NGOs and libraries amounted to PLN 87,000. Over 1,500 children and youngsters took part in various activities.

In September 2017, we published the results of the research conducted for us by Kantar MillwardBrown. It clearly shows that parents consider mathematics the most important subject in the education of their children. What requires improvement in the eyes of children themselves, however, is the way in which parents support their development in the field.

The purpose of the research was to obtain information on the habits of Polish families as regards learning mathematics together and supporting school-age children in mastering the subject. We wanted to find out which mathematics learning tools are most often selected by parents and children. The research has revealed, for example, that parents lack inspiration to show their children, in an interesting way, how common and useful mathematics is. Addressing the results of the research, mFoundation published its very first book titled “Maths is Everywhere. Family Adventures with Mathematics”.

Research results:

For more information on the research results, see “Parental support in learning mathematics. Research on parents’ habits when helping children aged 5-12 to learn mathematics” (“Wsparcie rodziców w nauce matematyki. Badanie zwyczajów rodziców związanych z pomocą w nauce matematyki dzieciom w wieku 5-12 lat”), which can be found here.