MIMAMSA is an inter-college science quiz conducted by the Science Club of IISER Pune. The aim is to make it the most conceptually challenging science competition at undergrad level in the country. It is a two-stage affair. The first stage is a written exam with around 40 subjective questions from all disciplines of science. The top four colleges selected through this round move into the finals. The format for the final round of Mimamsa is still evolving. What follows below is a description of Mimamsa 2013 and this year's rounds might look a little different! However, what is unlikely to change is the philosophy of Mimamsa.

    Philosophy

    There are two basic features of Mimamsa:

1.  Focus on concepts: Mimamsa is not a test for participants' knowledge or numerical abilities. The concepts needed for answering the questions would be of the FY/SY/TY BSc level. However, the participants are expected to connect/ apply various concepts to arrive at an answer.

2.  Arguments and counter-arguments: In most of the rounds, the answers given by one team are debated by all the other teams. The marks are given not only for finding the right answers, but also for finding flaws in the logical deductions made by other participants.


    Marking scheme

    The marking scheme at Mimamsa is very different from regular quizzes. It is called exhaustive, meaning that each team is evaluated based on their relative contribution towards answering the question. This ensures that all teams have a chance to contribute for an answer, and thus score.


    Judging criteria

    The preliminary rounds ensure that only the brightest minds reach the finals. The questions ensure that even these minds are stretched. Consequently, all kinds of hypotheses/facts/arguments fly around during Mimamsa finals. To examine these competing hypotheses and evaluate the relative contribution of each team is not an easy job. Therefore, Mimamsa invites faculty members from IISER-Pune and neighbouring institutes for judging the finals. Each question is assessed by a team of 5 judges, all of whom are leading researchers and known experts in their respective fields.


    Details of the rounds

    The details of the rounds for the finals of the Mimamsa 2013 were as follows (with the approximate weightage of each question in a round given in the parentheses):

    • Brief Thought: Relatively simple questions with 1-2 steps of reasoning. (Medium)
    • Deep Thought: Questions are put forth in the form of a hypothetical scenario and the participants are expected to come up with a plausible explaination for a particular given observation. (High)
    • Analyzer: Typically "find-the-flaw" type of questions where the teams are expected to back their opinions with logical reasoning. (Medium)
    • Occulomotor: A buzzer round with visual questions which will be displayed on the screen. (Medium)
    • Stepping Stones: A series of quick questions to be answered in a short time. (Low)
    • Exposition: Each team presents an exposition on a topic of their choice for about 30 minutes followed by questions and discussions. The topic must be submitted 3-4 days prior to the finals.The teams are graded based on their presentation and the quality of questions they pose to the other teams during discussion. (High)

 

    After a team answers a question posed to them, it is passed on to other teams for comments, contradictions and     additions to their answers.(except for Stepping Stones and Exposition)