Seoul Hosts World's Largest Mathematics Conference
Seoul Hosts World's Largest Mathematics Conference
Mathematics forms the core of many scientific discoveries and innovations. President Park Guen-hye delivered they keynote speech at what is the largest mathematics conference in the world. The president said that “Without mathematics, there would not have been any digital theory to pave the way for the information and communications revolution and there would not be any computer graphics that make it possible to create movies and animated films in which we now all revel.” Math is also critical for understanding how to make financial investments, emphasised the president.
Mathematics undeniably has a vast amount of contributions to make in diverse fields such as commerce as well as culture and art. President Park Guen-hye delivered they keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 2014 Seoul International Congress of Mathematicians or ICM held on August 13.
The conference will be held till August 21 and Seoul will play host to the ICM. ICM is the largest conference on the subject of mathematics and it was started many years ago. The first International Congress of Mathematics was held nearly 117 years ago. The theme of the conference was “Dreams and Hopes for Late Starters.” Korea is the fourth nation from Asia which has hosted this event. Apart from Korea, the other nations which have hosted this event include Japan, India and China.
The opening ceremony for the International Congress on Mathematics was attended by over 4,000 participants from over 120 nations. Noatable attendees also included President Ingrid Daubechies from the Internationa Mathematical Union. Mathematicians from within the nation as well as abroad participated in the event. The event also included representatives from academic,research media and industrial sectors as well.
This is the 27th International Congress of Mathematicians to be held. The ICM is the world's largest mathematics related event and it is being held at COEX located in Southern Seoul from August 13 to 21. The Congress was held at Hyderabad in India in the year 2010 while it was held in China's capital city Beijing in the year 2002.
The conference was also held in Kyoto, Japan in 2010 whereas Seoul was selected as a venue for the ICM in the year 2010. The congress was sponsored b the International Mathematical Union comprising of around 80 national mathematics organisations across the globe.
The ICM is often called the “Olympics of Math” in that the event is held once for every 4 years and the Field Medal is awarded to deserving recipients. The Fields Medal is the top prize for mathematicians and it is regarded as the Nobel Prize for mathematics. It is awarded to mathematicians under 40 for notable outstanding achievements in this field.
There are around 21 keynote speeches as well as 179 guest lectures along with 6 panel discussions planned over the course of the ICM. Professor Hwang Jun-muck will be the first Korean to provide the keynote speech on the second day of the congress.
