(Hong Kong, December 16, 2021) Tsz Hin Chan from Pui Ching Middle School received the Gold Award for his research report titled “On Non-Torsion Solutions of Homogeneous Linear Systems over Rings” at the 2021 Hang Lung Mathematics Awards. The Scientific Committee noted that Tsz Hin’s research report was at postgraduate level and demonstrated outstanding logical thinking and analytical ability. On Ki Luo from Pui Ching Middle School and Wai Lok Lai from St. Paul’s Co-educational College won the Silver Award and the Bronze Award, respectively. Together with the five Honorable Mentions of equal ranking, HK$1 million in prize money will be shared among winning students, and their teachers and schools, in recognition of their mathematics research projects that meet the highest academic standards in terms of methodology, research, and scholarship.
The Announcement and Awards Presentation of the 2021 Hang Lung Mathematics Awards, co-organized by Hang Lung Properties Limited (“Hang Lung Properties”) and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (“HKUST”), was held at the Conrad Hong Kong last night. The Hon. Mrs. Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, a longtime supporter of the Hang Lung Mathematics Awards for many years, attended as the Guest of Honor.
Mr. Ronnie C. Chan, Chair of Hang Lung Properties, said, “The Hang Lung Mathematics Awards (HLMA) is our signature community investment initiative. I am pleased that HLMA continues to flourish under the new partnership formed early this year with The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. We are delighted to be working closely with The Chinese University of Hong Kong, our inaugural partner, as well as other local universities and top mathematicians around the world on this meaningful project. It is very encouraging to see a strong turnout of high-quality research reports submitted this year after a long disruption in classroom learning. I hope that the participation of our young talented students in this competition would ignite their lifelong passion for mathematics, science, and technology.”
Professor Wei Shyy, President of HKUST, said, “HKUST attaches great importance to innovation and believes that knowledge and research will bring about new discoveries and promote the sustainable development of society. We are equally committed to encouraging and nurturing talent development in basic science. We are very pleased to have cooperated with Hang Lung Properties in the organization of the 'Hang Lung Mathematics Awards', which aims to stimulate the interest and creativity of secondary school students in mathematics research and identify those with talent and potential in the subject. Looking ahead, HKUST will continue to contribute to mathematics and popular science education development in Hong Kong and nurture more outstanding academic elites for society."
Professor Richard Schoen, 2017 Wolf Prize Laureate in Mathematics and Chair of the 2021 Hang Lung Mathematics Awards Scientific Committee, expressed his appreciation of the high-standard research reports submitted by the participants, “I am very pleased to see that Hong Kong secondary school students not only possess outstanding abilities in mathematics and science, but also have a passion for research. The quality of the research reports submitted by the participating teams to the competition is very impressive to me. The breadth of topics, the depth and clarity of the solutions given are very high. The ability to model and isolate the central features of a complex problem, and to develop a language and method to solve it efficiently, are tools which will serve our students well in the future. I hope they could further use these abilities to advance the century-long development of mathematics, or apply to the immediate good of the society and mankind."
The 2021 Hang Lung Mathematics Awards attracted the participation of over 60 teams from nearly 40 secondary schools in Hong Kong. Under the supervision of a teacher, each team decided on a mathematics topic, designed and conducted research, and submitted a research report. A Scientific Committee comprising internationally renowned scholars and educators then evaluated the research reports in a rigorous, multi-step review process. The teams selected to continue to the final round were invited to attend an Oral Defense where they presented their research in front of the Scientific Committee.
Founded in 2004, the Hang Lung Mathematics Awards is a biennial event that encourages secondary school students to fulfill their creative potential in mathematics and science and stimulate their passion for intellectual discovery. In the past eight editions of the Awards, over 2,400 students from 200 schools have participated in the competition, and over 400 research reports have been submitted. Hang Lung Properties donates HK$2.5 million to each competition, of which HK$1 million is set aside as prize money, with the remainder used for academic consultancy, assessment process, the administration of the competition, as well as education promotion activities. HKUST also provides scholarships for teachers nominated by the winning schools to enroll in the Master of Science Program in Mathematics for Educators.
