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UCC student Laura Cosgrave receives Royal Irish Academy Hamilton Prize

22 Oct 2024
L-R: Danny McCoy (CEO Ibec), Laura Cosgrave (University College Cork), Professor Laura DeMarco (Hamilton Day Speaker). Photograph by Johnny Bambury.

University College Cork student Laura Cosgrave is one of nine mathematical students to receive a Hamilton Prize 2024 from the Royal Irish Academy (RIA).

The prestigious undergraduate award was presented 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 took place at the Royal Irish Academy on 16 October 2024, a date that marks the anniversary of famed Irish scientist William Rowan Hamilton’s discovery of quaternion algebra on 16 October 1843.

The prize ceremony took place in the Academy and was attended by family and friends of the recipients, as well as representatives from their university departments and members of the mathematics community in Ireland.

The nine 2024 Hamilton Prize winners are Dara Colleran, University of Galway; Daniel Cooper, Dublin City University; Laura Cosgrave, University College Cork; Oisín Davey, Maynooth University; Samual Den Dikken, University of Limerick; Kai Quan Lian, Queen’s University Belfast; Mateusz Mroczkowski, TU Dublin; Brian O'Callaghan, Trinity College Dublin; Jack Sherry, University College Dublin.

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 2024 Hamilton Lecture speaker, Professor Laura DeMarco from Harvard University.

The Hamilton Prize ceremony was followed by the 2024 Hamilton Lecture presented by Professor DeMarco on ‘The geometry and algebra of the Mandelbrot set.’ The sold-out lecture explored how the Mandelbrot set provides insight into research in areas as varied as geometry, dynamics, and arithmetic. Following her talk Professor DeMarco was presented with a Hamilton Coin, a limited edition €10 coin launched by the Central Bank of Ireland in 2005 to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of William Rowan Hamilton.

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