What is the Mathematics A-lympiad?

The Mathematics A-lympiad is a mathematical competition for teams of 3 or 4 students organized by the Freudenthal institute of Utrecht University in the Netherlands. The teams work on an assignment - a very open ended problem situation - in which mathematical problem solving and higher order thinking skills must be used to solve a real world problem. The result of the assignment is a written report. The competition has two rounds: the qualifying preliminary round with about 1000 teams of students competing a day long at their own schools; and an international final in which 16 teams compete during a whole weekend in a central place in the Netherlands on a different assignment.
In schoolyear 2011/2012, the Mathematics A-lympiad will be organised for the twentysecond time.
The competition is intended for students in grade 11 and 12 (age 16-18) of secondary schools on pre-university level, who are taking mathematics A as a subject.
All countries who think this kind of problemsolving fits in with the local mathematics curriculum, are invited to join the competition.
Countries that are participating are: Denmark, Germany, Dutch Antilles (St. Maarten and Aruba), Iran.
For more background-information, I refer to the chapter "10 years of Mathematics A-lympiad", which is the first chapter of the book "10 years Math A-lympiad - the real world mathematics team competition", published in 2000 by the Freudenthal Institute.

Open ended problem
The open nature of the task implies that the teams have to forge the entire path from defining the problem, via strategy definition, solution and argumentation, through to presenting the solution found. The result is a paper containing all of these aspects.

Preliminary round
In the qualifying round at the schools, the assignments are distributed in the morning at 09:00 (on the Antilles: 07.30), after which the teams have until 16:00 (on the Antilles: 14.30) to complete their papers. A good division of work within the team and an effective strategy are of great importance.

Final
By sending in the best papers (from a maximum of three teams), every participating school can compete for one of the twelve final places for the Dutch teams. The teachers of the participating teams assess the papers from the qualifying round. The final is held over a weekend in a conference centre. The structure is the same as in the qualifying round, except that the assignment is more difficult and more extensive. The teams work on it from Friday at 11:00 until Saturday at 13:00. Part of the assignment is an oral presentation.