Nowadays, the biggest attraction of mathematics in public opinion is no longer Liu Zhiyu's genius deeds, but the continuous attention of industrial giants such as Ali and Huawei to mathematics.
In recent years, Ma, Ma Yun, Ren and other leading figures in China's science and technology have frequently emphasized their fancy for mathematics and their strong investment in the development of basic disciplines such as mathematics. The subject eager for the power of mathematics has shifted from the government to the business community.
For China's technology giants, imitating others' experience has been unable to bring about subsequent growth. If they want to stay at the poker table, they must master the hard technical strength at the bottom. They began to turn to mathematics. The intervention of commercial forces has brought new features to the current "mathematics usefulness"-rational division of labor and respect for Industry-University-Research's transformation law.
Compared with the "mathematical usefulness" that forced mathematicians like Hua to transform, China's science and technology industry calls for a new type of "mathematical usefulness" in which theory and application, academia and industry develop their respective strengths and exchange needed goods, so as to truly shake the power of mathematics. In this process, the core problem that needs to be solved urgently is the supply of talents.
It happened that mathematical research is a very uneconomical employment direction:
Compared with finance and computers, which can be crossed by people with mathematical ability, the income of mathematical research is several orders of magnitude lower.
In recent years, the postdoctoral salaries of several major mathematical research institutions in China are as follows:
Postdoctoral fellow, Beijing International Mathematics Research Center, Peking University: the annual salary is 6.5438+8,000-240,000 RMB (before tax). (20 18)
Postdoctoral fellow in Peking University Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Beijing International Mathematical Research Center: annual salary1.6-24,000 RMB (before tax). (20 18)?
Postdoctoral degree in pure mathematics in Morningside Mathematics Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences: the annual salary is 300,000 RMB. (20 17)
Postdoctoral degree in theory, applied mathematics and statistics in Shanghai Mathematics Center: the annual salary is 6.5438+0.5 million RMB. (20 17)
And if you join the BAT technical post, you may get several times the annual salary.
In terms of preferential treatment for mathematics talents, commercial forces are playing a powerful role: Tencent needs money to support it. At the end of 20 18, Ma announced that Tencent Foundation would invest 10 billion yuan to launch the "Scientific Exploration Award" to encourage young scientists to do basic science and cutting-edge technology. Huawei has set up mathematics centers around the world, and institutions follow talents. Huawei doesn't care much whether these scientists are in China or from China.
Ali's move has the strongest public interest and public color: holding a contest. Last September, Ali held the first Alibaba Global Mathematics Competition for all ages and occupations. From 38,000 contestants in 1 1 countries around the world, 5 1 winners were selected. The gold, silver and bronze prizes are $20,000, 100 and $5,000 respectively, and the winners can attend a one-week master class.
Although different companies support mathematics in different ways, they all have the nature of * * *, fully respect the initiative of high-end talents, and leave enough space for possible creation by providing funds or exchange opportunities; This is completely different from the previous "political first" and task-oriented approach.
Perhaps, when the mathematical culture really enters a benign state, it is the time when the whole people and all walks of life can turn their attention to the development of the subject itself with a more calm attitude.