四年一度的國際數學家大會(International Congress of Mathematicians)於 2018 年 8 月 1 日於巴西里約熱內盧開幕，並於開幕典禮中宣布並頒發數學界的最高榮譽獎項：Fields Medal (費爾茲獎)，曾任國家理論科學研究中心 NCTS Scholar 的劍橋大學教授 Caucher Birkar 獲頒此最高榮譽。

Birkar 教授於 2014-2017 年期間每年來國家理論科學中心研究訪問一個月，並講授短期課程。其自述該獲獎工作部分發想於來中心訪問期間之研究，且表達後續持續來台進行學術交流之意願。

此外，Birkar 教授的 Fields Medal Lecture 將於 8 月 6 日舉行，該演講也將由國家理論科學研究中心主任陳榮凱教授擔任主持人。

The grand opening of International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) took place on August 1^st, 2018 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Our director, Prof. Jungkai Chen, is attending the conference and giving an invited talk in the algebraic geometry section.

The new Fields Medal winners were announced at the opening ceremony. One of the four winners of Fields Medal is Prof. Caucher Birkar, professor from the University of Cambridge and former NCTS scholar. Prof. Birkar visited NCTS once (or twice) a year for one month from 2014 to 2017. He gave series of lectures in NCTS, and part of his important breakthrough on BAB conjecture was initiated and done while visiting NCTS. Prof. Birkar expressed his willing to visit Taiwan continuously for academic exchange in the future.

The Fields Medal Lecture of Prof. Birkar will take place on August 6^th. Director Jungkai Chen was invited to chair of the lecture. For more information of ICM 2018, please refer to ICM 2018 (click here).