HANGZHOU -- More than 1,200 scientists from all over the world are expected to attend the 4th International Congress of Chinese Mathematicians scheduled to open Monday in Hangzhou, east China to share their latest discovery in mathematics.

A series of prizes, like the Morningside Awards and Chern Prize, will be awarded to the eminent professionals who have made important achievement on the studies of mathematics or have made significant contributions to train mathematics talents, said Shing-Tung Yau, a well-known American Chinese mathematician and an initiator of the event.

The Congress will also award for the first time the outstanding mathematical dissertations by Chinese college students all over the world so as to "select a group of young mathematicians with potential and creativity", said Yau at a press conference on Sunday.

A series of forums, covering various topics related to science and the development and education of mathematics, will be held in the six-day event.

The congress, a triennial event that brings together Chinese and overseas mathematicians for the discussion of the developments of mathematics, was initiated by Professor Yau Shing-Tung and is supported by the Morningside Group of Hong Kong.

The first congress was held in Beijing in 1998 with the following two sessions held in Taipei in 2001 and Hong Kong in 2004.