After he was shortlisted for the medal, Chen had to do two presentations at the event and he also got opportunities to interact with the scholars who were the program's judges.

"It was both a great opportunity and encouragement for me to demonstrate my project to mathematicians and get their advice," says Chen.

"The competition gave me a chance to verify my ideas. It opened my eyes and was an unforgettable experience."

Speaking about the award at the event held in Beijing in December, Kong Dongmei, president of the Dongrun Foundation, said that the main point of the prize was not only to honor academic excellence, but more importantly to foster interest for science and foster a spirit of innovation in the younger generation.

A forum, called Innovation and the Future of Education, was also held by Tsinghua University and Dongrun Foundation after the awards.

The forum offered an opportunity to young Chinese students to meet and interact with world-famous scientists such as Yau, and Nobel laureates－Chinese-American physicist Chen-Ning Franklin Yang and US economist Eric Maskin－as well as entrepreneurs and philanthropists.

The forum featured discussions on scientific issues in an effort to raise public awareness and spur innovation among the younger generation.

Giving details about the forum, Kong says that unlike other forums that focus only on science, the real focus of the forum is the young generation.

"The youth are our future. Every young person who loves science is a seed for future scientific development, and we have made it our mission to help them realize their dreams," says Kong.

"We want to draw more attention to the education of our young generation (through the forum)."