The first ethnic Chinese winner of the Fields Medal in 1982, gave the opening speech at the second Shanghai Master Forum on Science, which was held at Fudan University on Friday.
The next three years will be critical for China to flourish and excel in the field of mathematics, according to Qiu Chengtong, a highly esteemed mathematician from around the world. Qiu, the first ethnic Chinese winner of the Fields Medal in 1982, gave the opening speech at the second Shanghai Master Forum on Science, which was held at Fudan University on Friday.
Qiu said that a country can excel in field of mathematics by choosing its own significant research direction rather than relying on scholars from other nations to perform repair or supplementary work.
According to Qu, who is also a foreign academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, an academician of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, and an academician of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, “China’s math level currently has not reached the latter but is higher than the first.”
There are many different sub-fields of modern mathematics. Therefore, he said, a thorough understanding of modern math’s development branches and a scientific assessment of the field’s burgeoning fields will be extremely beneficial to the growth of the subject at home.
“The young scholars can only break the chains in their thinking and embark on their own path while keeping up with the forefront of the world’s development by aligning with the international community,” says Qiu, who was born in Shantou City, Guangdong Province, in 1949.
Since last year, Qiu has participated in the planning of the International Congress of Basic Science, which will take place in Beijing in July of this year. He is dedicated to assembling specialists in mathematics, theoretical physics, and engineering to debate the most recent discoveries and problems.
Qiu served as the first dean of Tsinghua University’s Qiuzhen College when it was founded two years ago. He wants to produce a group of elite individuals in China who can direct the advancement of mathematics globally and revolutionise the field of basic science.