Editing Fields Medal (section)

==Conditions of the award==
The Fields Medal has for a long time been regarded as the most prestigious award in the field of mathematics and is often [[List of prizes known as the Nobel of a field|described as the Nobel Prize of Mathematics]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> Unlike the Nobel Prize, the Fields Medal is only awarded every four years. The Fields Medal also has an age limit: a recipient must be under age 40 on 1 January of the year in which the medal is awarded. The under-40 rule is based on Fields's 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."<ref>{{Harvnb|McKinnon Riehm|Hoffman|2011|p=183}}</ref> Moreover, an individual can only be awarded one Fields Medal; winners are ineligible to be awarded future medals.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://darboux.mathunion.org/fileadmin/IMU/Prizes/Fields/Statutes%20Fields%20Medal.pdf |title=Rules for the Fields Medal |website=mathunion.org |access-date=1 May 2018 |archive-date=2 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180502070440/http://darboux.mathunion.org/fileadmin/IMU/Prizes/Fields/Statutes%20Fields%20Medal.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

First awarded in 1936, 64 people have won the medal as of 2022.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fields Medal |url=https://www.mathunion.org/imu-awards/fields-medal |publisher=International Mathematical Union |access-date=14 September 2020 |archive-date=26 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226015744/https://www.mathunion.org/imu-awards/fields-medal |url-status=live }}</ref> With the exception of two PhD holders in physics ([[Edward Witten]] and [[Martin Hairer]]),<ref>{{cite web |title=Edward Witten |url=https://www.worldsciencefestival.com/participants/dr-edward-witten/ |publisher=World Science Festival |access-date=14 September 2020 |archive-date=8 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408074621/https://www.worldsciencefestival.com/participants/dr-edward-witten/ |url-status=live }}</ref> only people with a PhD in mathematics have won the medal.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kollár |first1=János |title=Is there a curse of the Fields medal? |url=https://web.math.princeton.edu/~kollar/FromMyHomePage/fm-essay.pdf |publisher=[[Princeton University]] |date=2014 |access-date=14 September 2020 |archive-date=9 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220309061236/http://web.math.princeton.edu/~kollar/FromMyHomePage/fm-essay.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>