A 12-year-old male student won first prize in the Math Olympiad. At 27 years old, he returned home to become a professor

Tran Cao (born 1994) comes from an intellectual family in Thuy An, Wenzhou (Zhejiang, China). His father is Professor Tran Tien Lam – Principal of Bich Que Vien Experimental High School (Guangdong, China), and a member of the Family Education Professional Committee of the China Education Organization.

As a person with a deep understanding of education, he noticed his son’s extraordinary qualities from a young age. Professor Lam discovered that at the age of 2, Tran Cao was very sensitive to numbers. After a long process of observation, he decided to nurture Tran Cao’s passion for Math at the age of 3.

Under his father’s guidance, every day, Tran Cao studies Math with a happy mood. However, when Tran Cao entered grade 1, he realized that his child’s mathematical talent showed signs of decline in thinking. At this time, he silently observed and found the reason why Tran Cao often completed his homework mechanically. Right after that, he talked with the teacher.

Professor Lam believes that assigning a lot of homework will take away children’s rest time and cause them to repeat mechanical copying actions. This does not promote progress, but also inhibits children’s ability to think independently.

Therefore, Professor Lam boldly asked the school to let Tran Cao go straight to grade 3. At the same time, he also asked for permission to let his son do selective homework under the supervision of his parents. Following his father’s arrangements and adjustments, Tran Cao did not worry about completing his homework, but also saved time to self-study and research his favorite Math problems.

At the age of 12, Tran Cao won first prize National Math Olympiad should be admitted directly to Thuy An High School (China). 2 years later, taking the university entrance exam, Tran Cao had a total score of 84 higher than the standard score. In particular, the male student’s Math score reached 137/150 points. This score helped the male student enter the Young Talent Class of the University of Science and Technology of China.

While Professor Lam wanted his child to major in Physics or Economics, Tran Cao chose Mathematics. For many people, Math is a dry and boring subject, but Tran Cao finds joy in the ‘sea’ of numbers. In 2012, graduating with excellent scores, Tran Cao received a doctoral scholarship in Mathematics at New York University (USA).

During his doctoral studies, under the guidance of Professor Tran Tu Hung, Tran Cao solved important mathematical problems. Completing his doctoral program in 2017, Tran Cao joined the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study (USA), under the guidance of professor Akshay Venkatesh – winner of the Fields Medal in 2018.

In 2019, Tran Cao was appointed as an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA). When he was at the peak of his career, in December 2020, Tran Cao received an invitation to return home. Giving up his treatment in the US, in January 2021, the young mathematical genius decided to join the University of Science and Technology of China. This time he returns, he hopes to contribute a lot to the country’s science.

Returning home at the age of 27, he was appointed Professor of Mathematics at the Research Center for Geometry and Physics (IGP) of the University of Science and Technology of China. Here, Tran Cao completed his research Make a connection between the Hermitian-Yang–Mills equation and the Keller-Einstein equation. After that, the research paper was published in the journal World Mathematics Inventiones Mathematicae.

According to experts, the research successfully solves the relationship between two complex equations, with potential applications in the fields of Materials Science and Cosmology. In addition, research also promotes the development of Theoretical Physics and related fields. Highlights the important role of advanced Mathematics in solving complex Physics problems.

Solving these two equations is considered a core task in the field of complex Differential Geometry. The above achievements helped Professor Tran Cao win a number of prestigious awards.

In October 2021, Tran Cao was one of the outstanding young researchers to receive an award from the DAMO Research Institute of Alibaba Group.

In July 2022, Tran Cao was honored to receive the Silver Medal at the 9th World Mathematics Conference for Chinese People (International Congress of Chinese Mathematicians – ICCM). This is an award for outstanding young mathematicians who have made important contributions.

In 2022, Tran Cao appeared on the magazine’s ’30 Under 30′ list Forbes China. In January 2024, the young professor was honored as ‘Scientist of the Year’ and ‘Rising Science Star’.

Currently, Professor Tran Cao spends most of his time researching Applied Mathematics. Many people expect that in the future he may receive the Fields Medal for mathematicians who have made great contributions before the age of 40 (considered the ‘Nobel Mathematics’ award).

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