External Member, János Kollár awarded the Shaw Prize in mathematical sciences

24 May, 2017

János Kollár Source: nemmers.northwestern.edu

The Shaw Prize was established by Hong Kong media magnate Run Run Shaw in 2002 and has been awarded in astronomy, life and medical sciences and mathematics since 2004 to scientists still active in the field. The award is often referred to as the “Nobel Prize of the East” considering the list of eminent scholars who it has already been bestowed upon and is further accentuated by the illustrious cash prize: 1.2 million US dollars (shared proportionally in case of a shared prize).

János Kollár, a professor at the University of Princeton and external member of the Academy received the prize alongside his colleague, French mathematician Claire Voisin for their remarkable achievements “in algebraic geometry which have helped transform the scientific field and pave the way to cracking problems that have so far been unsolvable.” For further information regarding the mathematics the prize winners specialise in, there is a short abstract available here.

The prize in astronomy this year went to Simon D. M. White while the life and medical science prize was shared by Ian R. Gibbons and Ronald D. Vale.

The cover image is from shawprize.org