Taipei, July 14 (CNA) A Taiwanese professor of mathematics was awarded a silver medal in a math award, dubbed the Fields Medal of the Chinese-speaking world, in Taipei Sunday, the only mathematician from Taiwan to be recognized this year, according to the International Congress of Chinese Mathematicians.

Chang Chieh-yu, an assistant professor at National Tsing Hua University's Department of Mathematics, was awarded the medal in the Morningside Medal of Mathematics, a triennial award handed out since 1998.

Chang was recognized for his research in the transcendence theory over function fields of positive characteristic.

Chang received his bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees in math from National Tsing Hua University and did a post-doctorate fellowship at the math division of the National Center for Theoretical Sciences and National Central University.

He told the media Sunday that Taiwan's mathematics field has improved significantly in recent years but added that there is still room for improvement. He suggested that people in this field should engage in more exchanges and interact with foreign talent to find more inspiration.

The award was established by Chinese-born American mathematician Yau Shing-Tung, who was awarded the Fields Medal in 1982.

(By Hsu Chih-wei and Ann Chen)
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