Fields Medal

The Fields Medal is a prize given to mathematicians who are not over 40 years of age. It is given at each International Congress of the International Mathematical Union. This is a meeting that takes place every four years.

The Canadian mathematician John Charles Fields was the first to propose this medal and it was first awarded in 1936. It has been regularly awarded since 1950. Its purpose is to support younger mathematicians who made major contributions.

The Fields Medal is viewed, at least in the media, as the top honor a mathematician can receive.^[1] It comes with a monetary award. In 2006 the award was C$15,000 (US$13,400 or €10,550).^[2] The Abel Prize has similar prestige, and more money.

1. ↑ "Reclusive Russian turns down math world's highest honour". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). 2006-08-22. Retrieved 2006-08-26.
2. ↑ Woolls, Daniel (2006-08-22). "Russian refuses math's highest honor". Yahoo News. Retrieved 2006-08-26.^{[permanent dead link]}