Conditions of The Award
The Fields Medal is often described as the "Nobel Prize of Mathematics" for being traditionally regarded as the most prestigious award in the field of mathematics; however, in contrast to the actual Nobel Prize, the Fields Medal is awarded only every four years. The Medal also has an age limit: a recipient's 40th birthday must not occur before 1 January of the year in which the Fields Medal is awarded. As a result some great mathematicians have missed it by having done their best work (or having had their work recognized) too late in life. The 40-year rule is based on Fields' desire that
…while it was in recognition of work already done, it was at the same time intended to be an encouragement for further achievement on the part of the recipients and a stimulus to renewed effort on the part of others.The monetary award is much lower than the 8,000,000 Swedish kronor (roughly $1,170,000 Canadian) given with each Nobel prize as of 2012. Other major awards in mathematics, such as the Abel Prize and the Chern Medal, have a large monetary prize like a Nobel.
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