From October 30 to 31, 2021, the first Yau Chengtong Girls' Mathematics Competition for Girls' Secondary School Students was successfully held. In this competition, a total of 931 students were validly enrolled, from 27 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in China and Hong Kong, as well as overseas countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom. After the qualification review, more than 140 students participated in the competition, of which 35 were shortlisted for the interview stage to compete for the Knott Award. The winners will be directly selected for the Yau Chengtong Mathematical Science Leadership Talent Training Program of Tsinghua University. The competition is divided into two parts: interview and written test, after two days of fierce competition, the final decision is 1 gold award, 3 silver awards, 6 bronze awards and 15 winners. The list of winners is shown in the figure below.
Girls also have the ability to change mathematical development
At the opening ceremony, Mr. Yau Chengtong used the stories of several female mathematicians to encourage the female students who participated in the competition, he said, "Girls are just as good at learning mathematics, you have to believe in yourself." Mr. Yau Chengtong recounted from his own experience, emphasizing that the achievements of many female mathematicians are enough to affect the progress of mathematical development, such as Knott changed the development of the entire field of algebra, which is an epoch-making achievement. Knott was an excellent female mathematician, but initially did not receive the respect she deserved because of her gender. Mr. Yau Chengtong said, "Many times, there is not enough respect for the achievements of female mathematicians in society, resulting in their lack of confidence in themselves. I hope that through this competition, the female students will increase their self-confidence and let them know that they are actually amazing and have the ability to change the development of mathematics, just like the great mathematician Knott. ”
At the opening ceremony, two tsinghua university professors, Fu Lei and Song Wei, brought a lecture entitled "Knott: The Mother of Abstract Algebra" to tell everyone about Nott's life and academic achievements. Professor Song Wei said in his communication with the students of the Mathematical Graticule Network after the report, "First, don't think too much, don't care too much about the eyes of the people around you, be brave; second, know more, understand yourself, and find your own interests."
Professor Wang Dianjun, president of Tsinghua High School, stressed in his speech that girls and boys have the same mathematical talent, and the competition encourages more women to devote themselves to mathematical development. At the closing ceremony of the competition, Professor Wang Dianjun congratulated the successful holding of the competition, and also mentioned that the contestants participated in the competition not only to win awards, but also to prove that girls can study mathematics, highlighting the spirit of "who said that women are inferior to men". He hoped that the contestants would continue to work hard regardless of whether they won the prize or not, not to give up their efforts in mathematics, to learn good mathematics, to learn mathematics well, and not to live up to everyone's expectations.
Ms. Deng Yaping, the Olympic champion and table tennis Grand Slam winner who came to the closing ceremony, said in her speech that in world-class competitions, China's female athletes have better performance than male athletes, so she believes that female students who like mathematics will be able to stand up to half the sky.
Let the best scholars be willing to spend more effort on the best students
Masters need good students, just as fish need water. Mr. Yau Chengtong has always attached great importance to secondary education and the cultivation of students in their youth. Many great mathematicians have completed their most important results at a very young age, and Mr. Yau Chengtong teaches students to be ambitious and believe that they can make great achievements; I hope that our students, not only female students, can learn from Nott. Not only did Notte make important contributions to mathematics, but also made great achievements in theoretical physics. In addition, she has produced a number of influential mathematicians.
The competition was hosted by Tsinghua University, and many teachers at Tsinghua University paid great attention to this competition and made a lot of efforts for this competition. Peng Gang, vice president of Tsinghua University, quoted President Mei Yiqi as saying, "The so-called university is not only a building, but also a master", "The school is also a water, teachers and students are also fish, and their actions are swimming." The big fish lead, the small fish tail, and are also from the swim. He admired Mr. Yu Qiu's efforts to promote the development of Chinese mathematics and cultivate the next generation of Chinese mathematicians. Over the years, Tsinghua University has continuously promoted the reform of education and teaching, and one of the important aspects is to let the best teachers teach the best students, so that the best scholars are willing to spend more efforts on the best students. He proposed that Tsinghua University should not only do mathematics well, but also cultivate excellent students. In an environment like Tsinghua, if you can get along with the best peers and the best scholars day and night, you will definitely make outstanding achievements, and he encourages students to follow the example of the older generation of scholars and aspire to be first-class scholars.
Initiated and chaired by professor Chengtong Yau, an internationally renowned mathematician, the competition aims to train female mathematicians and encourage more girls to devote themselves to the study of mathematics. The first competition was hosted by the Yau Chengtong Center for Mathematical Sciences of Tsinghua University, hosted by the Affiliated Middle School of Tsinghua University, supported by the Tsinghua University Education Foundation "One SIM Mathematics Talent Training Fund" and tsinghua University Truth Seeking College. The prize was named the "Noether Prize" in honor of the Jewish-German female mathematician Amy Nott, known as the "mother of abstract algebra".