On the evening of May 30th, the Finals of the 12th S. -T. Yau College Student Mathematics Contest concluded in Beijing. After two days of intense competition, 75 finalists from eight domestic universities, including Tsinghua University, Peking University, the University of Science and Technology of China, and Fudan University, have won a total of 64 awards.

The Tsinghua University team achieved remarkable results in the Contest, winning 31 medals, including three Individual Gold Awards, one Individual All-round Gold Award, and the Gold Team Award.

Tsinghua University wins the Gold Medal in Team Award

Gang Peng, Vice President of Tsinghua University, and Prof. Shing-Tung Yau, Director of the Yau Mathematical Sciences Center and Chairman of the Contest, delivered speeches at the award ceremony. Academician Ruqian Lu from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xinli Wang, Deputy General Manager of R&F Properties Group, representatives from the co-organizers (Center of Mathematical Sciences, Zhejiang University and the Morningside Center of Mathematics Chinese Academy of Sciences), renowned mathematicians, officials from domestic and international universities and research institutions, contest judges, contestants, and media representatives, totaling over 180 people, attended the award ceremony.

Gang Peng gives a speech

Gang Peng congratulated on the success of the 12th S. -T. Yau College Student Mathematics Contest and encouraged the students who achieved excellent results. He pointed out that most scientific and engineering developments today are based on mathematical sciences. Tsinghua University will spare no effort to support Prof. Shing-Tung Yau’s work in cultivating leading talents in mathematical sciences, to achieve the goal of cultivating world-class mathematicians in China.

Prof. Shing-Tung Yau gives a speech

Prof. Shing-Tung Yau expressed his delight at the enthusiastic participation of top young students and their dedication to learning. He mentioned that over the 12 years since the Contest was established, the mathematical achievements of Chinese students have significantly improved, comparable to those of international top students. He specifically highlighted the Shing-Tung Yau Mathematical Sciences Leading Talent Training Program launched by Tsinghua University this year and the newly established Qiuzhen College, which have brought more confidence and hope for cultivating top mathematical talents in China. He stated that we are greatly inspired by the recent important speeches by President Xi Jinping at the general assemblies of the members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) and the 10th national congress of the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST). In the future, he will spare no effort to cultivate mathematical talents and strive tirelessly to build China into a strong mathematical nation.

This year, 1,586 students from 315 universities worldwide registered for the individual events, and 46 teams registered for the team events. The number of participants increased by 40% compared to the previous year, a historical high. A total of 25 world-renowned mathematicians, including Prof. Shing-Tung Yau, Prof. Raymond Hon Fu Chan from City University of Hong Kong, and Prof. Kefeng Liu from the University of California, Los Angeles, served as judges for the finals. They assessed the contestants based on their fundamental mathematical knowledge and thinking abilities, comprehensively evaluating their basic qualities and development potential in mathematics.

Qiyuan Chen, a student from the Shing-Tung Yau Mathematics Talent Class admitted in 2018 at Tsinghua University, won the Gold Medal in the Individual All-round competition, the Gold Medal in Team Competition, as well as the Silver Medal in Analysis and Differential Equations and the Bronze Medal in Geometry and Topology. He expressed that mathematics makes him feel power and beauty. Participating in the Contest for the second time further deepened his understanding of modern mathematics. Jianqiao Shang, another student from the Shing-Tung Yau Mathematics Talent Class admitted in 2018, won the Gold Medal in Geometry and Topology. He mentioned that living and studying with a group of mathematical talents has been highly beneficial, which is the charm of the Shing-Tung Yau Mathematics Talent Class.

Scene of the finals

The S. -T. Yau College Student Mathematics Contest was initiated by Prof. Shing-Tung Yau in 2010, targeting undergraduate students from universities in Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. The Contest aims to promote China’s university mathematics education by comprehensively testing students’ mathematical knowledge and abilities, and accomplishment. The contest questions and syllabus are formulated by Prof. Shing-Tung Yau and other leading domestic and international mathematicians, with the scope and difficulty comparable to the doctoral qualification exams of renowned foreign universities.

After twelve years of development, the S. -T. Yau College Student Mathematics Contest has gradually demonstrated its guiding significance for the academic studies of mathematics undergraduates. It helps students comprehensively learn modern mathematics and enhances their mathematical knowledge and abilities. At the same time, the Contest has gained increasing international recognition. Award-winning students perform excellently in international university entrance exams, making it an important avenue for discovering and selecting outstanding graduate students. To date, more than 12,700 undergraduate students from Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, and Taiwan have participated in the S. -T. Yau College Student Mathematics Contest, with over 700 students winning awards. Half of the award-winning students have gone on to further their studies at renowned domestic and foreign universities such as Tsinghua University, Peking University, Harvard University, Yale University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. More than 50 awardees have taken up positions at universities such as Harvard University, Princeton University, Northeastern University, and Paris-Sud University, continuing their in-depth research in mathematics.