Fields Medalist Ngo Bao Chao grants scholarships to 9 Vietnamese math students in quest t…

Professor Ngo Bao Chau, Vietnam's only Fields Medalist, has personally selected nine mathematics students for the country's most generous math scholarships, covering full tuition and providing monthly living allowances of VND15 million (US$579).

The list of Sigma Gold scholarship recipients, announced by the Vietnam Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics (VIASM), includes eight first-year students enrolled in talented bachelor's programs in mathematics at the Universities of Science under Vietnam's two national universities.

The remaining student attends Hanoi National University of Education.

All nine passed an initial screening based on academic performance, awards and essays on mathematics before being interviewed by Professor Chau, scientific director of the institute, and his colleagues.

Four are former International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) medalists: Nguyen Dinh Tung, Nguyen Le Nhat Nam, Tran Dai Thanh Danh and Truong Thanh Xuan.

The Sigma Gold scholarship is awarded by VIASM to students majoring in mathematics or mathematics education across Vietnam. Recipients receive full tuition coverage and a monthly living allowance during their first semester, with the scholarship renewable if they maintain strong academic results. It is currently the most generous scholarship available to mathematics students in Vietnam.

VIASM also offers Sigma Silver scholarships, which cover full tuition and provide a monthly living allowance of VND7.5 million, and Sigma Bronze scholarships, which cover tuition only. Both are reserved for students in talented bachelor's programs in mathematics, with recipients selected by the two Universities of Science under Vietnam National Universities in HCMC and Hanoi.

The initiative is one of the first concrete steps Chau has taken in Vietnam since announcing in February that he would leave the University of Chicago, where he has worked for 15 years, to join the University of Hong Kong in China.

In an interview at the time, he said the move allow him to pursue a long-held aspiration: deeper, more regular involvement in training young math enthusiasts in Vietnam.

Chau, who in 2010 became the first Vietnamese to win the Fields Medal, the highest honor in mathematics, said Vietnam has no shortage of young math talent, with about 50 students competing for spots on the country's International Mathematical Olympiad team.

But very few go on to become professional mathematicians, and only a couple of Vietnamese researchers are capable of competing at the international level, Chau said.

Developing mathematical research must go hand in hand with training a successor generation capable of leading the field at home, he said.