The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Infosys, NIAS institute nation’s biggest mathematics award

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Tuesday, Mar 04, 2008
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Infosys, NIAS institute nation’s biggest mathematics award

Staff Reporter

The Rs. 10-lakh prize will be given to young mathematicians

Aim is to give mathematics in India a fillip
Prize will be given in the latter half of the year

Bangalore: In order to give mathematics in India a fillip, encourage young mathematicians in their research and stimulate interest in the subject among students, the “Infosys Prize for Mathematics” — the biggest mathematics award of its kind in India — has been instituted by Infosys Technologies Limited and the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS).

The award, which comprises prize money of Rs. 10 lakh and a medal, aims to recognise outstanding contribution in any field of applied or fundamental mathematics, including pure mathematics, mathematical foundations of computer science and applied mathematics in the natural and life sciences, and in social sciences.

International jury

Winners of the Fields Medal (the veritable “Nobel” prize for Mathematics) will be among the seven-member international jury, which will be chaired by the prestigious Abel Prize winner Srinivasa Varadhan.

“We are looking to encourage those creative jumps in mathematics that give the discipline an impetus. Mathematics is an evolving field and its very nature has undergone enormous changes after innovations in computational technology. The prize, one of the biggest in the world, is meant to recognise and encourage these paradigm shifts, and also attract public interest in the subject,” said Sundar Sarukkai, Professor and Dean, School of Humanities, NIAS. He said that a great deal of mathematics was now used in the social sciences too, be it in economics or in political science.

Prize money

The mathematics prize has been on the anvil for over a year now, conceived initially by K. Kasturirangan, Director NIAS; B.V. Sreekantan, honorary visiting professor, NIAS; and Mohandas Pai, Director, Human Resource, Infosys.

The prize money will be drawn from a corpus of Rs. 1 crore provided to NIAS by Mr. Pai, and will be administered by NIAS.

The first Infosys Prize for Mathematics will be given in the latter half of the year. Anyone who has held a permanent position in India for at least five years and is below 45 years will be eligible for the award.

The nominator must send a brief report highlighting the significant achievements of the nominee along with curriculum vitae and a list of publications.

Nominations

Self-nominations will not be accepted. The nomination must be posted to “Infosys Prize for Mathematics,” NIAS, Indian Institute of Science.

The last date for receiving nominations is April 30.

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