The Adams Prize is awarded each year by the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge and St John's College to a young, UK based mathematician for first-class international research in the Mathematical Sciences.
The Prize is named after the mathematician John Couch Adams. It was endowed by members of St John's College and was approved by the senate of the university in 1848 to commemorate Adams' discovery of the planet Neptune. Originally open only to Cambridge graduates, the current stipulation is that the mathematician must be resident in the UK and under 40 years of age. Each year applications are invited from mathematicians who have worked in a specific area of mathematics. As of 2012 it is worth approximately £14,000. The prize is awarded in three parts: the first third is paid directly to the candidate, another third to the candidate's institution to fund research expenses, and the final third is paid on publication of a survey paper in the winner's field in a major mathematics journal.
The prize has been awarded to many well known mathematicians, including James Clerk Maxwell and Sir William Hodge. The first time it was awarded to a female mathematician was in 2002 when it was awarded to Susan Howson, a lecturer at the University of Nottingham for her work on number theory and elliptic curves.
The subject area for the 2012-13 prize will be "Topology".
Read more about Adams Prize: List of Prizewinners
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