2014 Ramanujan Prize Announced

The 2014 Ramanujan Prize has been awarded to Miguel Walsh jointly by ICTP, the Department of Science and Technology (DST, Government of India) and the International Mathematical Union (IMU).

The Prize recognizes Walsh's outstanding contributions to Ergodic Theory and Number Theory (the complete citation for Walsh's award, including details about the selection committee, is available on the 2014 Ramanujan Prize page). A national of Argentina, Walsh obtained his Licenciatura en Matematicas (somewhat equivalent to a Master degree) from the University of Buenos Aires in three and a half years, and went on to complete his doctorate in two and half years under the supervision of Roman Sasyk. At 26, Walsh is the youngest recipient of the Ramanujan Prize.

Mathematics was one of Walsh's least favorite subjects in school. But, his interest was piqued when he came across some unsolved math problems on the Internet and discovered that he could actually understand them. "After the experience of thinking about these problems, which was very different from what I had expected, I was fascinated by the possibility of this [mathematics] being my profession," he says. And, this continues to be his approach to solving problems in mathematics even today. "I usually start by being interested in some concrete open problem that I cannot solve," he says.

Talking about the challenges of growing up and studying in a developing country Walsh says, "I did not have the possibility of talking with people who were working in the areas I was interested in. Fortunately, nowadays the Internet provides easy access to articles, and even notes and blogs, which helps compensate this situation." His advice to aspiring mathematicians from the developing world is straightforward. "It is important to stay true to studying the topics one really loves. As simple as it sounds, to sustain this will require one to work very hard," he says.

For more details about the Ramanujan Prize, visit the web page.