Awards Season
After the seminar, Shen Qi exchanged business cards with some scholars and experts.
One of the gentlemen from Washington, who did not belong to any of the eight Ivy League universities, talked with Shen Qi for a long time.
"So you are eligible to be nominated for the Ford Prize, congratulations, Mr. Shen!" the middle-aged white man said.
Fields Medal, Wolf Prize, Abel Prize, Ramanujan Prize, Ford Prize, Fermat Prize, Cole Prize, MacArthur Genius Grant... Shen Qi had heard of many Math Prize, but he had never heard of the Ford Prize.
If this gentleman hadn't had "American Mathematical Society" written on his business card, Shen Qi wouldn't have talked to him for so long.
Regardless, every award counts, so Shen Qi politely inquired, "Mr. Randall, what are the specific eligibility requirements for the Ford Prize?"
"You published a high-level mathematical paper, and you did it," Mr. Randall said.
"Okay, I understand, Mr. Randall." Shen Qi shook hands with Randall.
Randall added, "The entry fee is $20,000, and if you unfortunately do not win, we will refund the full $20,000."
"I need to pay money first?" Shen Qi was inexplicably surprised. The American Mathematical Society's methods are exactly the same as some fraudulent organizations.
Randall stated matter-of-factly, "You have to spend money to run for president of the United States, and if you don't win, you don't get your money back."
"Okay, I understand. Goodbye." Shen Qi said goodbye and left.
Randall made a phone call gesture and shouted, "Give me the phone!"
Back in Princeton, Shen Qi did some research online. The American Mathematical Society is located in Washington., so it must be a legitimate organization. They have set up many awards, ranging from American high school math competitions to international Math Prize.
The Ford Prize, established in 1964 in honor of Mr. Ford, former president of the American Mathematical Society, is an international, formal Math Prize given to a number of recipients each year.
The fact that Shen Qi had to pay money before the Ford Prize selection process made him unhappy.
Twenty thousand US dollars is not a small amount, and it also gives people a sense of shame about spending money to buy a prize.
Professor Muller disagreed with Shen Qi's view. "There's nothing shameful about it. I received the Ford Prize in 1999, and the entry fee was $30,000 at that time. Recently, due to the poor state of the US economy, the entry fee for the Ford Prize has been reduced to $20,000."
Yes, that seems to be the case. Shen Qi recalled that Professor Muller's biography stated that he had received the German Prize for Scientific Advancement, the Leibniz Prize, and the Ford Prize.
"That's just how America is; it's an incredibly pragmatic country. Only Princeton is a true holy land," Professor Muller said. "However, you can't 'buy' the Ford Prize simply by spending money; the final selection criteria are based on the quality of the applicant's paper. I can grant you $20,000 in academic funding if you want to compete for the Ford Prize."
"I'll give it a try." Shen Qi had no choice but to accept the offer, since the government was funding his nomination for the Ford Prize.
Princeton is a private university, and some of its research funding comes from US government grants. Shen Qi didn't know the specific source of Professor Muller's research project funding, so he just assumed it was US public money.
The US government should spend its money wisely; if everyone contributes a little love, the world will become a better place.
Shen Qi decided to compete for the Ford Prize, not only for mathematics, but also for world peace.
So an elderly German man and a young Chinese man spent $20,000 of the US government's money.
The $20,000 was awarded to the Princeton research team as prize money and sent to the American Mathematical Society by check, in accordance with the regulations of the US government, relevant academic institutions, and Princeton University.
At the end of this year, Shen Qi was shortlisted for both the Chern Prize in Mathematics and the Ford Prize, marking the start of an "award season" for him.
China, capital city, Chinese Mathematical Society.
The selection process for this year's Chern Prize in Mathematics has entered its final stage.
The Chern Prize in Mathematics was established in 1986 and is awarded biennially.
Two young Mathematical Research are awarded this honor each year, and they must be Chinese citizens.
The Chern Prize in Mathematics is funded by donations from Hong Kong entrepreneurs and organized by the Chinese Mathematical Society.
This is a major event; the president of the Chinese Mathematical Society personally participated in the candidate selection process.
After two rounds of fair, impartial, rigorous and meticulous screening, the expert review panel presented a list to the president of the Chinese Mathematical Society.
There are four names on the list, and now it has entered the stage of selecting two out of four. Two of them will win this year's Chern Prize in Mathematics.
Staring at the list of four candidates to be selected, along with the detailed information of the candidates, the president fell into deep thought, hesitant and undecided.
"Huang Weifeng, full professor in the Mathematics Department at Fudan University, 39 years old, PhD in Mathematics from MIT."
"He Lin, researcher at the Institute of Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 36 years old, PhD in Mathematics from Yenching University."
Yu Xiaolei, Associate Professor of Mathematics at Zhejiang University, 32 years old, holds a PhD in Mathematics from Yenching University.
"Shen Qi, a 21-year-old graduate student in the Princeton Mathematics Department, completed his undergraduate studies in the Mathematics Department at Yenching University."
"The Peking University faction is really impressive; three out of the four candidates have Peking University backgrounds." The president graduated from the Mathematics Department at Wuhan University with a bachelor's degree and completed his master's and doctoral studies at Shuimu University.
"President, our selection criteria do not consider background; we only look at ability and contributions," the expert group leader said.
"Of course, I trust the expert panel's professional judgment and academic impartiality. This Shen Qi is quite interesting; he's so young, only 21." The president carefully reviewed Shen Qi 'Shen Qi information and, upon seeing his photo, exclaimed, "So it's this kid! The double gold medalist of the CMO and IMO, I remember him. We organized the CMO, and we also led the Olympic Math national team. Shen Qi, you actually went to Princeton!"
The expert panel leader stated, "According to the selection rules of the Chern Prize in Mathematics, there is only an upper age limit for candidates, not a lower age limit. Being 21 years old to participate in the award is indeed very young. The Chern Prize in Mathematics has been held for over a dozen years, and the youngest winner in history was only 28 years old. However, Shen Qi has shown outstanding performance in the last two years. He recently published a paper in the * Journal of the American Mathematical Society * proving the Wash Conjecture, which is his strongest competitive weapon."
"Furthermore, within two years of his undergraduate studies at Yenching University, Shen Qi incredibly published ten mathematical papers, most of which were SCI and national core journal papers. He achieved certain results and made useful contributions in multiple fields such as number theory, Mathematical Physics, integral equations, and divergent series." The expert group leader made an objective evaluation, noting that he studied at Dalian University of Technology for his undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees, and had no connection with either the Yanjing School or the Fudan School.
The president carefully reviewed the detailed information of all four candidates and then gave instructions. "Now, experts, let's begin the secret ballot. Each person may select a maximum of three candidates and tick their names. The two candidates with the most votes will receive this year's Chern Prize in Mathematics."