Tian made the appeal when interviewed recently by a Guangming Daily reporter.

Forty-four year old Tian, the only Chinese national among the three international scientists, had the honor of giving a one-hour academic lecture during this year’s International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) which was held in Beijing in August. He was one of the candidates short-listed for the 1998 Fields Medal. By 2002 he was too old to be considered for the prize. Candidates for the Fields Medal must be under forty.

When referring to the current situation and main problems facing mathematical research in China, Tian said the nation must be willing to invest considerable time and effort.

"I believe it may still take at least another 8 years before we start seeing results," he said, "At present, we have many intelligent young people, but China is still far from being a mathematical power house. Currently, China’s leaders in mathematics are in short supply, and we must encourage young people to engage in academic research and take on issues significant to the field. We mustn’t make the mistake of placing undue emphasis on how many articles people are publishing. People should not only demonstrate their abilities by publishing papers, but also, more importantly, focus on the academic value and significance of their work. It is difficult to form a stable and independent discipline within the academic system without strong academic leadership."

When asked, "“What is the most important quality for academic leaders?" Tian answered, "The most important quality is foresight. Only those who are willing to take a broad-minded approach and bear in mind the bigger picture, rather than concerning themselves with personal gratification, can make a valuable contribution to mathematics in China. In addition to academic research, people must also be truthful to themselves, letting go of any false pretensions."

Tian especially appreciates his mother’s influence during the early stages of his life. With an open family education, his parents neither asked him to study mathematics nor pay too much attention to examinations. In fact after passing his mathematics exam with full marks, his mother told him that nurturing his creative potential was more important.

Tian decided to devote himself to mathematics while in his third year of the university. He started to fully submerge himself in the world of mathematics when he was a postgraduate student at Peking University. "You can never really appreciate the charm of mathematics until you really immerse yourself in its realm," he said, adding that mathematics is attractive, simple, explicit and full of truth.

When the reporter asked him, "Since it is difficult to make significant achievements in mathematics, isn’t it a gamble to devote your whole life to the field?" Tian's reply was simply, "Yes".

During this year’s ICM, many scholars agreed that while mathematics is interesting, it is difficult to make significant breakthroughs. One of the winners of Fields Medal in 2002 spent six years solving one problem. It is common for people to achieve nothing after similar durations of time. However all previous endeavors will come to naught if they give up now.

"You must be prepared to endure the difficulties for a lifetime if you really wish to become a true mathematician," Tian told a group of 82 high school students during a 30-minute lecture at a Mathematics Summer Camp in Peking University late in August of this year. He also told them the reasons behind his own interest in mathematics and elaborated on the hardships faced while conducting research in the field.

Tian sincerely hopes that more and more people will be inspired to engage themselves in the discipline following the ICM in Beijing.

How will Tian throw himself into making science popular for children and nurture enthusiasm for academic research? He responded to this question saying, "The development of mathematics in China should be a systematic project. We should start training students from high schools and colleges. It is necessary to foster students’ interests in mathematics as well as their ability of thinking independently if we are to cultivate truly innovative scientists. The foundations of education need to be strengthened. Currently, the quality of students coming through our colleges is regressing, a trend which must be reversed as soon as possible."

In recent years, Tian has worked at Peking University for four months of every year. He has been holding special lectures on mathematics and guided junior students in their studies to enable them to get in touch with ideas difficult to obtain in the classroom. For the past three years, he has proved an inspirational role for young students holding mathematics summer camps, enabling mathematics to become more accessible to high school students.

(china.org.cn by staff reporter Wang Qian, September 21, 2002)