Adams Prize
Encyclopedia
The Adams Prize is awarded each year by the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge
and St John's College
to a young, UK
based mathematician for first-class international research in the Mathematical Sciences.
The Prize is named after the mathematician John Couch Adams
. It was endowed by members of St John's College and was approved by the senate of the university in 1848 to commemorate Adams' discovery of the planet Neptune
. Originally open only to Cambridge graduates, the current stipulation is that the mathematician must be resident in the UK and under 40 years of age. Each year applications are invited from mathematicians who have worked in a specific area of mathematics. it is worth approximately £13,500. The prize is awarded in three parts: the first third is paid directly to the candidate, another third to the candidate's institution to fund research expenses, and the final third is paid on publication of a survey paper in the winner's field in a major mathematics journal.
The prize has been awarded to many well known mathematicians, including
James Clerk Maxwell
and Sir William Hodge
. The first time it was awarded to a female mathematician was in 2002 when it was awarded to Susan Howson
, a lecturer at the University of Nottingham
for her work on number theory
and elliptic curves.
The subject area for the 2012 prize will be "Computational Mathematics".
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
and St John's College
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....
to a young, UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
based mathematician for first-class international research in the Mathematical Sciences.
The Prize is named after the mathematician John Couch Adams
John Couch Adams
John Couch Adams was a British mathematician and astronomer. Adams was born in Laneast, near Launceston, Cornwall, and died in Cambridge. The Cornish name Couch is pronounced "cooch"....
. It was endowed by members of St John's College and was approved by the senate of the university in 1848 to commemorate Adams' discovery of the planet Neptune
Neptune
Neptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Named for the Roman god of the sea, it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third largest by mass. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus, which is 15 times...
. Originally open only to Cambridge graduates, the current stipulation is that the mathematician must be resident in the UK and under 40 years of age. Each year applications are invited from mathematicians who have worked in a specific area of mathematics. it is worth approximately £13,500. The prize is awarded in three parts: the first third is paid directly to the candidate, another third to the candidate's institution to fund research expenses, and the final third is paid on publication of a survey paper in the winner's field in a major mathematics journal.
The prize has been awarded to many well known mathematicians, including
James Clerk Maxwell
James Clerk Maxwell
James Clerk Maxwell of Glenlair was a Scottish physicist and mathematician. His most prominent achievement was formulating classical electromagnetic theory. This united all previously unrelated observations, experiments and equations of electricity, magnetism and optics into a consistent theory...
and Sir William Hodge
W. V. D. Hodge
William Vallance Douglas Hodge FRS was a Scottish mathematician, specifically a geometer.His discovery of far-reaching topological relations between algebraic geometry and differential geometry—an area now called Hodge theory and pertaining more generally to Kähler manifolds—has been a major...
. The first time it was awarded to a female mathematician was in 2002 when it was awarded to Susan Howson
Susan Howson
Susan Howson is a British mathematician at the University of Nottingham who worked on algebraic number theory and arithmetic geometry....
, a lecturer at the University of Nottingham
University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is a public research university based in Nottingham, United Kingdom, with further campuses in Ningbo, China and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...
for her work on number theory
Number theory
Number theory is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers. Number theorists study prime numbers as well...
and elliptic curves.
The subject area for the 2012 prize will be "Computational Mathematics".