Get ready for research, and help with it now
Build the foundations under one real problem, learn to write proofs a computer checks, and help the people working on it.
Honest answer: the problems on DARC sit at the edge of what professional researchers can do, and most need university-level maths or a lot of computing power. You won't solve one this month. But you can do real, useful research work today, and every step below builds toward the rest.
Step 1: Pick one problem that excites you
Browse Open problems and open one whose title makes you curious. Don't worry if you don't understand it yet.
Read the one-line summary and the explanation at the top. It's written for a first-year university student, so take it slowly.
Step 2: Learn the ground under it
On the problem page, Path to understanding lists the entries to read first, from the foundations up. Read them in order.
Each entry has Words on this page for the hard words and New to this? Read first for beginner-friendly reading. Use both.
Tip Keep a notebook of every word you had to look up. It's useful later, when you help improve the glossary.
Step 3: Learn to write proofs a computer checks
Many maths problems here are checked in Lean, a language where a computer verifies every step of a proof. The Natural Number Game teaches it in your browser, starting from 1 + 1, with nothing to install.
Finish it, and you can read the Lean statements on problems marked Lean proof.
Step 4: Get an AI assistant to help you
An AI assistant is a chat app you can ask questions in plain words. Use it as a patient tutor: paste a paragraph you're stuck on and ask it to explain it with an example, then ask it to quiz you.
Age rules differ: Claude needs you to be 18 or older. ChatGPT allows 13- to 17-year-olds with a parent's or guardian's permission, and some countries set a higher minimum age. Ask a parent, or skip this step: everything on DARC works without AI.
AI can be confidently wrong. Check what it says against the page's sources, and never post AI output on DARC as if you had checked it yourself.
Step 5: Create your free DARC account
To ask questions and help out, you need an account. Go to Sign in and choose Continue with Google, Continue with GitHub or Email me a link, whichever you see. There's no password to remember.
You get a public handle (like @ada). Your handle, name and profile picture are public; your email address never is.
DARC is for people aged 13 and over. If you're under 16, ask a parent or guardian before you sign up, and show them this page. If you use Google or GitHub, DARC shows the name and picture from that account, so pick one you're happy to show. DARC never asks for your age, school or anything else, and you don't need to share them.
Step 6: Help check small things
Researchers rely on pages being right. When a glossary meaning is wrong or a reading-list link is broken, say so in the page's Discussion with Comment, or fix it yourself (see Improve the explanations).
On the Verification board, some checks are small: compare a number with its source, rerun a short script. If one is within reach, do it and press Submit verification, and say clearly what you did and didn't check.
Step 7: Ask good questions
On any entry, Ask a question and then Post question. Say what you read and exactly where you got lost. Good questions improve the page for everyone after you.
This page's address saves your answers, so you can bookmark it or send it to someone.