Hamilton Prize in Mathematics
The Hamilton Prize is awarded annually to the top final year mathematics undergraduate students from across the island of Ireland.
To commemorate the legacy of Irish mathematician William Rowan Hamilton MRIA (1805–65), mathematics departments in Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, Dublin City University, University College Cork, University of Galway, Maynooth University, University of Limerick, Technological University Dublin and Queen’s University Belfast are invited to nominate their “best” student in their penultimate year of undergraduate mathematical studies.
The selection of the best student is based either on the results of the annual assessment of the year’s performance or on the best performance in the ordinary institution examinations in Mathematics at the end of the penultimate year. The nomination is left to the discretion of the Department of Mathematics in each of the institutions to decide.
The prizes are awarded at an annual ceremony in the Royal Irish Academy to mark Hamilton Day (16 October).
Hamilton Day is sponsored by Ibec.
William Rowan Hamilton
William Rowan Hamilton MRIA (1805–65) is universally recognised as the greatest mathematician, and arguably the greatest scientist, that Ireland has produced to date. Hamilton Day is commemorated annually on 16 October by the Academy.