The Royal Irish Academy has awarded the prestigious undergraduate Hamilton Prize to the top mathematical students in their final year of study as nominated by their university. Ibec, who sponsor the RIA prize and Hamilton Day activities, see developing STEM talent as a key role in safeguarding Ireland’s economic future.
The ceremony, originally scheduled for 16 October 2022 to mark Hamilton Day, took
place at the Royal Irish Academy on Wednesday, 1 March. Hamilton Day commemorates the anniversary of famed Irish scientist William Rowan Hamilton’s discovery of quaternion algebra on 16 October 1843.
The 2022 Hamilton Prize winners are Tiernan Brosnan, University of Limerick; Ryan Elwood-Clarke, Queen’s University Belfast; Laura Hayes. University College Cork; James Francis Hayes, University of Galway; Ryan McGowan, Trinity College Dublin; Olivia McLoughlin, Dublin City University; Kituru Ndee, TU Dublin; Ellen O'Carroll, University College Dublin; and Jordan Rossiter, Maynooth University. In recognition of their mathematical excellence, the students each received a cash prize of €500, a certificate of achievement and attended an exclusive masterclass with the 2022 Hamilton Lecture speaker, Professor Avi Wigderson of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton.
Dr Mary Canning, President of the Royal Irish Academy said:
“The Hamilton Prize recognises these outstanding young mathematicians chosen in their penultimate year of studies in universities all around the island of Ireland. We celebrate Hamilton Day because Ireland has a rich history of scientific excellence, but through this prize we also look to the future. In honouring their academic excellence we hope to support and encourage the next generation of great Irish
scientists. Although Hamilton Day was postponed from last year, we were very pleased to celebrate their achievements in person at a ceremony in the Academy, following their masterclass with Professor Wigderson.”
