In a first, two Chinese scholars win the ‘Nobel Prize’ of mathematics – and China is thrilled

For the first time, two Chinese citizens have been awarded the prestigious Fields Medal for achievement in mathematics; This victory was praised all over the world. Chinese It is seen as a milestone in the country’s goal to consolidate its role as a powerhouse in science and technology.

Wang Hong and Deng Yu were named Thursday among four winners of the first prize awarded by the International Mathematical Union every four years to outstanding mathematicians under the age of 40. This year’s other two winners came from Canada and the USA.

Wang, 35, became the third woman to win this award in the award’s 90-year history.

China’s social media took action to celebrate their achievement, and on Friday morning the two top trending topics on China’s X-like Weibo discussed the win.

Although both pursued their academic careers outside China after studying at Peking University, a top research university in Beijing, state media and other news sites were full of articles about Wang and Deng and what their success meant for the country.

“This is a landmark achievement for Chinese mathematics,” said one comment viewed thousands of times on social media. “This is the realization of a dream shared by generations of Chinese mathematicians: to make China a mathematical powerhouse!”

While other posts celebrated Wang’s victory as a breakthrough for women in STEM fields, another social media commenter called it “a harsh slap in the face to those who have long preached that boys are better at math than girls.”

Wang, who grew up in Guilin in southern China and is now a professor at New York University and the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques in France, was awarded for his work solving a decades-old problem in harmonic analysis and geometric measure theory.

Deng, 37, a University of Chicago professor who grew up in the tech hub of Shenzhen, won for his progress on partial differential equations.

The outpouring of pride and excitement is a testament to the importance of academic achievement in China, where top scholars can achieve celebrity status and students receive one of the best and most competitive grades each year. challenging university entrance exams In the world.

This also speaks to China’s long-standing hunger to be among the top echelons of modern science and technology achievement; it’s an ambition that has led Beijing to invest extensively. Recruiting the best talent to their universities and we fund groundbreaking work.

China’s leaders intend to establish the country as a leading force not only in advanced technology but also in basic and theoretical sciences as part of the country’s so-called “national rejuvenation”.

A comment in state media on Friday touched on this, writing: “There has long been a stereotype in Western academia: China is competitive and superior in applied mathematics, but lacks original breakthroughs in cutting-edge fundamental theories.”

“The emergence of Wang Hong and Deng Yu finally filled this gap, setting a new standard for Chinese mathematics and effectively breaking down prejudices,” he added.

‘I hope they come back’

Chinese state media described Deng and Wang as the first Chinese citizens to win the award.

Another Chinese-born scientist, Shing-Tung Yau, was also awarded the prize in 1982, but he did not hold Chinese citizenship at the time. Mathematician Terence Tao, who was born in Australia and is ethnically Chinese, also won in 2006.

Yau, now a professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing, said in an interview with a Chinese state-linked media outlet published Thursday that Wang and Deng’s awards fulfill a decades-old aspiration of the Chinese mathematics community and hoped the two would return to China to teach.

“We very much hope that they will return, because this is important for China,” he said, adding that he hoped that in the future “scholars trained entirely in China will also be able to win the Fields Medal.”

China has long grappled with the departure of the best and brightest to institutions in the United States and elsewhere, trying to reverse a phenomenon known as the “brain drain” as the prestige of its own institutions grows.

Both Deng and Wang pursued their advanced education abroad. Deng transferred from Peking University to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as an undergraduate and then earned his doctorate from Princeton University in 2015.

A graduate of Peking University, Wang completed his master’s degree in France before receiving his doctorate from MIT in 2019. French President Emmanuel Macron personally called Wang to congratulate him on his victory.

In comments shared by NYU following the announcement of her award, Wang praised her success to “brilliant colleagues” at every stage of her career.

“Moments like these never belong to one person. They are the result of years of chance encounters and unexpected questions that point you in the right direction,” he said.

In an interview published Thursday in Chinese media National Business Daily, when asked why more young Chinese mathematicians were gaining international fame, Deng attributed it to “the accumulation of knowledge and experience.”

“After all, Chinese mathematicians have already accomplished a lot of excellent work in recent years, so it is expected that one of them will one day be widely recognized.”

CNN’s Joyce Jiang contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters, create an account at: CNN.com