A renowned Indian-origin mathematician has won the prestigious Fields medal, which is known as the Nobel prize for maths.
Akshay Venkatesh has been awarded the honour for his contributions to a broad range of subjects in mathematics.
The 36-year-old is born in New Delhi and currently teaches at Stanford University. Venkatesh moved to Perth, Australia, when he was just two and he finished high school when he was 13.
At the age of 16, he graduated with first class honours in mathematics from the University of Western Australia. Four years later, Venkatesh earned his PhD.
The Fields Medal was given to Venkatesh at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Rio de Janeiro.
The Fields medals are awarded every four years to promising mathematicians under 40. The prize was inaugurated in 1932 at the request of Canadian mathematician John Charles Fields, and each winner receives a 15,000 Canadian-dollar cash prize.
Venkatesh has won numerous awards, including the Ostrowski Prize, the Infosys Prize, the Salem Prize and Sastra Ramanujan Prize.





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