For Shanghai-born international maths star Yilin Wang, curiosity is what counts

Wang, winner of this year’s prestigious Salem Prize, speaks French, avoids the spotlight, and is ‘not a big fan’ of maths contests

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Yilin Wang is a junior professor at France’s Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques, which supports advanced research in mathematics and theoretical physics. Photo: Handout

Published: 10:00am, 18 Nov 2024Updated: 3:55pm, 18 Nov 2024

A mathematician originally from Shanghai has won a top international award for her work in a field that she said could “feel lonely” sometimes.

Yilin Wang, 33, is a junior professor at France’s Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques (Institute of Advanced Scientific Studies), which supports advanced research in mathematics and theoretical physics.

The 2024 Salem Prize, which is overseen by the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Princeton, was announced at the end of October. This year, the prize committee handed out two awards – one to Wang and the other to Argentinian mathematician Miguel Walsh.

Established in 1968 in honour of the Greek mathematician Raphael Salem, the annual prize is given to young researchers for outstanding work on harmonic analysis and related topics.

Wang received the award for “developing deep novel connections between complex analysis, probability, and mathematical physics, particularly with regards to Teichmuller theory and the theory of the Schramm-Loewner evolution”, according to the IAS website.

She is the third person of Chinese origin to win the prize, following professor Dapeng Zhan of Michigan State University, and Terence Tao, who at the age of 24 was appointed as the youngest full professor at the University of California at Los Angeles. In 2006, aged 31, Tao received the Fields Medal, the highest honour in mathematics.