Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
“The second winner… Lu Zhou!”
When the audience heard this name, they did not make any noise.
No one was unfamiliar with this name.
Yet, when everyone heard this name, a look of surprise appeared on their faces.
The reason was that the named person was way too young. He had just turned 21 years old. In fact, Lu Zhou was half the age of everyone else at the venue!
The academic world was a place of qualifications.
No one doubted his qualifications.
However, it was still a surprise that a kid won this award.
Professor Qiu pushed his glasses and continued to speak in a steady tone.
“… The main research results of Lu Zhou are the Zhou’s theorem, the twin prime conjecture, and the use of topological methods to further supplement the sieve theory. He created his own unique insights not only in the field of pure mathematics but also applied mathematics. His research results have been highly praised by Professor Bawendi. All of these achievements are commendable for such a young scholar.”
This was impressive for a young scholar because even an old scholar who had been doing research for decades might not be able to achieve this level.
As for qualifications…
Since Lu Zhou received recognition from Professor Qiu, no one objected.
Applause sound soon reverberated through the venue.
It was like a thunderstorm, spreading from the front row to the back.
Lu Zhou stared at the podium with his eyes wide opened.
He finally knew what Professor Lu was hiding, and why Yan Xinjue and Professor Liu were congratulating him.
He had never expected that the China Mathematics Society would grant him such an honor.
Although the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award was for younger scholars, it had never been awarded to a twenty-something-year-old.
Professor Yang Zhiguang was not shocked. His thick face was neutral.
He had expected it.
He patted Lu Zhou’s shoulder and said, “Go on, Lu Zhou. Go up the stage and take your award.”
“Oh…” murmured Lu Zhou as he nodded. He then stood up and walked on the red carpet.
As he slowly approached the stage, his heart was beating so fast that it almost jumped out of his chest.
However, the second he stepped onto the stage, his heart calmed down.
When Lu Zhou received the gold medal and certificate from Professor Qiu, he said politely, “Thank you.”
Professor Qiu smiled and replied, “You’re welcome. You deserve this honor!”
Professor Qiu nodded toward Professor Yang Zhiguang and said, “You two winners, say whatever you want.”
Yang Zhiguang smiled and said, “I’ll let the younger one talks first.”
Lu Zhou was unprepared, but Professor Qiu already handed him the microphone.
He took the microphone. He then took a deep breath before he looked at the audience and said with a steady but excited voice, “Thank you, University of Jin Ling, for cultivating me. Thank you, China Mathematics Society, for giving me this award. I’ll continue to strive for greater mathematics results!”
“Thank you!”
His award speech was very short.
It was only three sentences.
However, his speech was genuine and not exaggerated.
Clap clap clap…
The venue exploded with applause.
Professor Lu looked at the podium with approval and applauded gently.
Yan Xinjue was even more excited. His hands were red from clapping and he even shouted out loud, “F*ck, Zhou, you’re nutty!”
Receiving the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award at 21 years old… If it was him, he would have bragged about it for the rest of his life.
“Be polite!”
Even though Professor Lu reprimanded Yan Xinjue, his face was full of smiles.
It was not just mathematicians who were applauding, even the undergraduate students from Peking University Union who was standing at the entrance of the venue joined in.
The person standing on stage was their age. Maybe even younger…
That was why they were applauding.
Lu Zhou had set an example for them.
…
Of course, some people were unhappy about this young winner.
For example, someone who nearly received the reward…
Wei Siyang sat at the back of the venue. He had an awkward expression on his face. His hands were rested on his legs, and he did not care to applaud.
The reason was that his boss was sitting next to him. His boss’ face had turned red. If Wei Siyang clapped, he was afraid that he would not be able to graduate.
Professor Ma Changan stared at the person on stage. His mood was terribly gloomy.
He was not furious because Lu Zhou rejected him earlier, but because this honor should have belonged to him.
It was a long story.
The domestic mathematics community was not big, but there were a lot of niche communities.
In 1952, China had a change to the national university system. The authorities asked for domestic universities to imitate the British system. As a result, the mathematics department of both the University of Shuimu and the University of Zhi was cut. Instead, the nation built University of Yan and University of Aurora.
Now, the domestic mathematics community could be divided into the University of Yan, the China Academy of Sciences, and the University of Aurora.
Some said the system change was a waste of academic resources.
The most famous was probably Professor Feng. He was unable to become an academician due to this change.
In the end, this gentleman was hired to be the dean of mathematics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. However, he was still unable to become an academician.
It was obvious that the selection process of becoming an academician was not “absolute”.
Of course, not anyone could become one. One had to have some academic background.
Professor Ma Changan was a member of the University of Aurora. He had prepared for the 2017 academician selection for a long time. He spent the last 20 years working hard at the department of mathematics at Aurora.
However, his academic capital was still too small compared to professors that only did research. He had not even written one major research thesis.
Of course, he had written a few small theses, but most of them were collaborations.
The hardest part was that in China, only the first author mattered.
Therefore, he set his sights on the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award.
If he received this Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award, this would add to his qualifications and he might be able to become an academician.
He had been preparing for this award for years.
He had even planned his award speech.
However, this kid just stole the award from him!