In the last general meeting of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, held on Monday 21 November in Trieste, Italy, were announced the winners of the TWAS Prizes 2011. In mathematics, the award went to Patricio Felmer, Professor of the Department of Mathematical Engineering and researcher of the Center of Mathematical Modeling at the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, and National Prize of Exact Sciences 2011.
This International Prize was given to Felmer for being recognized for his outstanding contributions to Hamiltonian systems, singular perturbations theory and non-linear elliptic equations.
The academic will share the 2011 Prize in Mathematics with Shun-Jen Cheng of the Institute of Mathematics of the Academia Sinica of Taiwan. Who together will receive $ 15,000 in cash and will have the opportunity, along with the winners of the other disciplines, to give a talk at the next annual meeting of the Academy, which will take place in 2012. In this meeting, the winners will receive both prize money and a medal.
Felmer referred to the Prize saying, “this award is given to scientists working in developing countries, not those who migrate and work in developed countries, I have done all my work here in Chile, and this is a recognition that fills me of joy and gives me strength to continue. ”
The Academy of Sciences for the Developing World
Until 2004, this academy was called Third World Academy of Sciences and despite the name change has retained its original acronym TWAS. This organization is comprised of over 700 members from 81 countries, 66 of those are developing countries. The fundamental aim of TWAS is to promote scientific capacity and excellence in the South.
The Academy was founded in 1985 by a group of leading scientists, led by Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam. Among other activities, TWAS awards each year to those who have stand out for their contribution to knowledge in areas such as agricultural sciences, chemistry, medical sciences, physics, biology, earth sciences, engineering sciences and mathematics.
Chilean TWAS Prizes
Ramón Latorre (Biology), University of Chile – 1991
Juan Carlos Castilla (Biology), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile – 1996
Enrique Tirapegui (Physics), University of Chile – 1996
Servet Martínez (Mathematics), University of Chile – 1999
