The organizers of the Breakthrough Prize, dubbed the "oscar of science", announced on 19/4 that Hong Wang was honored in the new horizons category. This prize recognizes outstanding young scientists and includes a 100,000 USD award.

Wang won the award in mathematics for her research on harmonic analysis, partial differential equations, and geometric measure theory. Her work encompasses the local smoothing conjecture, the Furstenberg set conjecture, and the kakeya conjecture.

Her name is best known for solving the kakeya conjecture in three dimensions with her collaborator Joshua Zahl — a century-old problem that challenged many mathematicians. According to experts, Wang's results mark a significant milestone with profound implications in mathematical research, potentially impacting applications in computer science and cryptography such as image creation, data processing, and wireless communication.

This work also earned her and her collaborator the prestigious Clay Mathematics Institute award, announced five days prior. This award is presented annually to honor the outstanding achievements of talented mathematicians worldwide.

Previously, she received other awards such as the Maryam Mirzakhani new frontiers prize, the salem prize, the ostrowski prize, and the gold medal of the International Association of Chinese Mathematicians.

Mathematician Hong Wang. Photo: IHES Fanpage

Hong Wang, 35, is a Chinese mathematician. At 16, she scored 653/750 on the university entrance exam and was admitted to Peking University's Department of Earth Sciences, before transferring to the Department of Mathematics.

Wang earned her master's degrees at Universite Paris-Sud and Ecole Polytechnique in France, and her doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US, before teaching at New York University. Currently, she is an associate professor at the university's Courant Institute and also a full professor at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques (IHES) in France.

The breakthrough prize was established in 2012 to honor scientists, inspire young scientists, and promote science for global benefit. The clay award began in 1999, one year after the Clay Mathematics Institute was founded by American businessman Landon T. Clay and his wife, based on the belief that mathematics plays a core role in the development of humanity, encompassing knowledge, culture, and daily life.

This "double win" of major awards leads many to believe that Hong Wang is nearing the fields medal — considered the "nobel prize of mathematics" — next july in the US.

Khanh Linh