Newsletter No. 324

第324期 2008年10月4日 No. 324 4 October 2008 NEWS & EVENTS work on cutting-edge projects and nurturing young researchers. In 1993, he established the IMS in CUHK. After 15 years, the IMS has become one of the most important research institutes in the world, with all its academic activities being supported by public donations. In the subsequent years he established two more institutes—the Morningside Center of Mathematics in Beijing and the Center of Mathematical Sciences in Hangzhou. Prof. Yau never declines to give public lectures or to mentor students of various levels. He sees these as the only ways to popularize mathematics . To encourage mathematical thinking in youngsters, he founded the high profile Hang Lung Mathematics Award for high school students. Unlike other mathematical competitions, it emphasizes research and creativity. The programme has been very successful and he is bringing this model to mainland China this year. Its impact will surely be felt very soon. Prof. Yau is a great mathematician; but he is also a great teacher, a great friend, a loving father and husband. His knowledge extends beyond mathematics to Chinese literature and history. He recently published a selection of his poems. He has done more than anyone in our living memory to advance mathematics in Hong Kong, as Prof. Lau Ka-sing, chairman of the Mathematics Department, put it at the opening ceremony of the conference, ‘We wholeheartedly thank you for all you have done for the Mathematics Department, for the Chinese University, and for the mathematics community in Hong Kong. No one has ever done so much as you, and Hong Kong is really proud of you.’ 崇 基學院於今年暑假舉辦多項 學生計劃,包括暑期留學計 劃、海外語文學習團、德國 / 法國社 會探索之旅、暑期工作實習計劃、浙 江大學學生互訪計劃、李韶文化交 流學習中心暑期考察計劃、外展訓 練計劃、甘青行中國西部文化考察和 學習服務計劃等。 本年的暑期留學計劃共有一百一十 八名崇基學生參加,獲學院資助遠 赴英國、美國、加拿大等地的著名 學府進修。其中八十多人前往加州 大學柏克萊分校,十五人到加大洛 杉磯分校,並有多位學生修讀哈 佛、劍橋等大學開辦的夏季課程。 此外,四十五位崇基學生則參加海外語文學習團,分別 到英、美、加等國修讀英語課程。 至於已踏入第八年的「德國/法國社會探索之旅」,則 有三十八位學生參加,在這三周內,學生除了修讀基礎 德語或法語課程外,還進行文化交流聚會和參觀歷史 名勝( 見圖 )。 崇基學院與香港中華基督教青年會合作的暑期工作實習 計劃,為學生提供到英、美等地的暑期實習機會。另學 院與蘭州大學合辦的甘青行中國西部文化考察,共有十 六人參加,前往甘肅、西北去了解當地宗教、民族、歷 史及文化,並感受其藝術氣息和自然風光。 I n the summer of 2008, Chung Chi College organized a wide array of summer programmes for its students, which included study trips to France and Germany, the Summer Study Abroad Programme, the Language Study Abroad Programme, the Summer Programme of the Lee Shiu Centre of Intercultural Learning, a student visitor programme with Zhejiang University, the Service-Learning Programme, the Outward Bound Training Programme, the Global Y’s Trainee Programme and a study trip to Gansu Province of China. Overseas programmes like the Summer Study Abroad Programme and the Language Study Abroad Programme are very popular among Chung Chi students. About 160 students attended summer classes or took language courses in prestigious universities / institutions such as Harvard, UC Berkeley, UCLA and Cambridge this year. Thirty-eight students immersed themselves in the culture of France or Germany for about three weeks. Their schedules were packed with language classes, excursions and visits to museums as well as historical sites ( see photos ). Under the Global Y’s Trainee Programme, which was jointly launched by YMCA and the College, 25 Chung Chi students were sent to work as camp counselors at campsites in countries such as the US and the UK. A total of 20 students joined the Study Trip to Gansu Province co-organized by the College and Lanzhou University. They visited cultural and historical sites in major cities and gained a deeper understanding of the province. 崇基學生的豐盛暑假 An Eventful Summer for Chung Chi Students Prof. Yau’s best known work is the solution to the Calabi conjecture on the existence of the Kahler- Einstein metric, which now plays a central role in string theory. He also solved the positive mass conjecture in general relativity theory with mathematician Richard Schoen. And the famous Li-Yau differential Harnack estimate for the heat equation had motivated a crucial part in the Perelman-Hamilton solution of the Poincaré Conjecture. The impact of his work is immense and has affected many areas of modern mathematics and physics. The area of Geometric Analysis was based on 屢獲獎項 The Much-Honoured Mathematician 丘成桐教授獲獎無數,包括維布倫幾何獎、被譽為數學界諾貝爾獎的費爾茲獎、麥克阿瑟基金獎、克拉福 德獎和美國國家科學獎。他的工作的重要性,從他1997年獲美國國家科學獎的讚辭中可見一斑: 他對數學貢獻深遠,在許多領域產生了重大影響,如拓樸學、代數幾何、廣義相對論和弦理論。他的工作極 富洞察力,將兩個不同的數學方法結合起來,解決了數學界幾個長久懸而未決的重要難題。 Prof. Yau Shing-tung has received numerous awards and honours, to name a few, the Veblen Prize in Geometry, the Fields Medal (the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for mathematics), MacArthur Fellowship, the Crafoord Prize and the US National Medal of Science. Part of his work is summarized in the citation of US National Medal of Science, which he received in 1997: For profound contributions to mathematics that have a great impact on fields as diverse as topology, algebraic geometry, general relativity and string theory. His work insightfully combines two different mathematical approaches and has resulted in the solution of several long-standing and important problems in mathematics. his earlier work, which has now become one of the most important fields in mathematics. Towards a Mathematic Powerhouse Prof. Yau is a man with enormous energy. His dream is to raise the level of mathematics research in China so that Chinese mathematicians can excel in the international arena. He has attracted the best minds from China to work with him. In order to broaden impact, he recognizes the importance of seeding research institutes, which provide the environment for ( Continued )

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