On the afternoon of June 9, the 15th S. -T. Yau College Student Mathematics Contest ceremony (hereinafter referred to as the "Yau Contest") was held in the Back hall of the Main Building of Tsinghua University. Professor Luming Li, President of Tsinghua University; Academician Shing-Tung Yau, Chair of the Yau Contest; Professor Nanhua Xi, President of the Chinese Mathematical Society and Vice President of ShanghaiTech University; and Enlai Jiang, Vice President of the China Association of Higher Education, attended the ceremony and delivered speeches. A total of 34 judges, including Caucher Birkar, Fields Medalist and Professor of Tsinghua University; Qionglin Liang, Vice Dean of Academic Affairs and Dean of the Graduate School, Tsinghua University; Wei Yuan, Secretary-General of the Tsinghua University Education Foundation; and Gui-Qiang G. Chen, Professor from Oxford University, along with contestants, teachers and students from more than ten other universities of China, altogether over 200 people attended the ceremony. Together, they reviewed the 15-year development journey of the Yau Contest and witnessed the glorious moments of student award winners in mathematics.

Contestants from Tsinghua University, Peking University, University of Science and Technology of China, Fudan University, Xiamen University, and Shandong University won 66 awards after intense competition in the Finals. Tsinghua University contestants achieved remarkable results, winning the Individual All-round Gold and Silver Awards and obtaining 6 gold, 9 silver, and 14 bronze awards, totaling 29 awards.

Individual All-round Gold Award winner, undergraduate student from the Qiuzhen College, admitted in 2021

Group photo of the Individual All-round Gold Award winners, Zichang Wang (right second) and Yicheng Yang (right third), with the award presenters

Among them, students from Qiuzhen College won 25 individual single awards. Zichang Wang and Yicheng Yang, undergraduates admitted in 2021, won the Individual All-round Award " Shing-Tung Yau Award" Gold Medal, and the Individual Single Award " Shiing-Shen Chern Award" Gold Medal. Junchi Zuo, an undergraduate admitted in 2021, won the Individual All-round Award " Shing-Tung Yau Award" Silver Medal and the Individual Award "Loo-Keng Hua Award" Gold Medal. Ziyue Cai, an undergraduate admitted in 2022, won the Individual Award " Chia-Chiao Lin Award" Gold Medal.

Luming Li gives a speech

Luming Li, on behalf of the university, congratulated the contestants, thanked the guests and expert judges for their support for young talents, and paid tribute to Professor Yau for his tireless efforts in nurturing new forces in the Chinese scientific community. He said that the Yau Contest not only promoted the vigorous development of university mathematics education in China but also cultivated and delivered a large number of innovative talents for the mathematics discipline in China and globally. He hoped that students would continue to forge ahead, maintain their love for mathematics, and strive to contribute their youth and strength to the scientific cause. Luming Li stated that Tsinghua University places a high priority on the development of fundamental disciplines. The Yau Mathematical Sciences Center and Qiuzhen College established in recent years have become significant bases for cultivating international mathematical science talents and academic research. In the future, the university will further strengthen the construction of the mathematics discipline, enhance the cultivation of basic research talents, and make greater contributions to the development of mathematics and basic sciences in China and the world.

Nanhua Xi gives a speech

Nanhua Xi, on behalf of the Chinese Mathematical Society, congratulated the successful holding of the 15th Yau Contest. He highly praised the Yau Contest as a top event in the Chinese mathematics community over the past fifteen years. It has attracted many outstanding mathematics students and set a correct direction and standard for the development of mathematics in China. He particularly mentioned the enthusiasm and achievements of Professor Shing-Tung Yau in developing Chinese mathematics, which has earned widespread respect. Professor Yau, with his profound academic accomplishments, rich intellectual content, and selfless spirit, has illuminated the path for the younger generation. He pointed out that while Chinese mathematics has made significant progress, there is still a gap with leading mathematics countries. Facing this challenge, the Chinese mathematics community needs to continue to shoulder responsibilities and work together to promote the progress of mathematics.

Enlai Jiang gives a speech

Enlai Jiang expressed the hope that the mathematics community and teachers and students in the field would serve the country's major strategic needs, aim at major international frontier issues and directions in mathematics science, and carry out innovative research. He emphasized the importance of the youth force and the cultivation of globally competitive new-generation talents, focusing on key areas to create top academic creative competitions. He stated that the China Association of Higher Education would continue to support the Yau Contest and actively guide more universities and students to participate in this high-level mathematics contest.

Caucher Birkar gives a speech

Caucher Birkar encouraged young students to pursue their dreams and maintain their lasting enthusiasm for mathematics. He emphasized that mathematics contests are an important step on the road to becoming a true mathematician, but the goal of a mathematician is not awards, but to commit to better and deeper research. He hoped that through the Contest, students can clarify their learning goals, stimulate lasting motivation, find the field they love, delve deeply, and achieve a better self.

Shing-Tung Yau gives a speech

Shing-Tung Yau reminisced about the original intention of founding the Yau Contest, which was to enhance the basic skills of undergraduate mathematics students in China. After 15 years, he believes that the Yau Contest has not only provided a platform for young students to showcase their talents but also promoted changes in Chinese mathematics education. Nowadays, some Chinese undergraduates have reached world-class levels. He called for more universities to actively join the Yau Contest to further improve the overall level of mathematics education in China and contribute to cultivating more outstanding talents in the mathematics field. He reviewed several major transformations in the history of world mathematics and the rise of leading mathematics countries, expressing his hope that young students would lead China to occupy a place in the next wave of mathematics discipline development. He reiterated the crucial importance of basic science for national prosperity and pointed out that the next five years is critical for the development of mathematics in China. He encouraged young students to have lofty ambitions and the courage to lead the future development of science in China and change the history of world mathematics.

Judge representatives give speeches

Judge representative Gui-Qiang G. Chen stated that the difficulty of this year's contest was higher than before, but he was delighted to see that most contestants could respond to the challenges with excellent performance, including many outstanding students from sophomore and junior years. First-time judges Lars Andersen and Li Yanyan were deeply impressed by the solid mathematical foundation demonstrated by the contestants. The young students' ability to quickly understand the core content of the problems and complete the derivation in a short time was remarkable. They hoped that the award-winning students would continue to work hard in their respective areas of interest and research, so as to contribute more to the development of mathematics.

Award-winning contestants give speeches

Junchi Zuo and Yicheng Yang from Tsinghua University expressed their gratitude for the training provided by Qiuzhen College over the years. They believed that participating in the Yau Contest made them deeply aware of the importance of basic knowledge in mathematics learning. They thanked the Contest Committee and the problem setters for providing a high-level competition platform and paid tribute to the judges and teachers for their hard work. Chen Kaiyi and Wang Jiamin from Peking University agreed with Professor Yau's philosophy of strengthening basic mathematical skills through the Yau Contest. For them, it was an unforgettable experience. Through the competition, they not only met like-minded friends who love mathematics but also had the opportunity to interact face-to-face with top mathematicians during the unique interview assessment of the finals, deeply experiencing the charm of mathematics.

Scene of the Finals

The Contest this year saw over 3,000 students from more than 500 universities registered for the Individual Competition and 43 teams registered for the Team Competition, covering 29 provinces, municipalities, autonomous regions, as well as Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions. The Semi-finals were organized by the Center of Mathematical Sciences, Zhejiang University, with written exams conducted simultaneously at 19 university test centers nationwide. 51 experts participated in the grading work, with 103 contestants and 9 teams advancing to the finals.

Since its inception in 2010 by Professor Shing-Tung Yau, the Yau Contest has developed into an important contest for undergraduate students from universities in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. the Contest covers six major fields: Geometry and Topology, Algebra, Number Theory and Combinatorics, Probability and Statistics, Applied and Computational Mathematics, Analysis and Differential Equations, and Mathematical Physics, aiming to comprehensively assess students' mathematical literacy and potential and select outstanding mathematical talents. Over the past 15 years, about 23,000 university students from over 600 universities in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan have registered for the Yau Contest, with nearly 900 students winning awards. Most award winners have furthered their studies at top universities such as Tsinghua, Peking, Harvard, Yale, and MIT, and some early contestants have taken up teaching positions at renowned institutions at home and abroad, making their mark in the field of mathematics.