Iranian becomes first woman to win top maths prize

Maryam Mirzakhani wins the Fields Medal, becoming the first woman to be awarded the highest honour in mathematics.

The professor at Stanford University in California was among four recipients honoured with the Fields Medal – mathematics’ equivalent to the Nobel Prize – at the International Congress of Mathematicians held in Seoul, South Korea, and the first female among the 56 winners since the prize was established in 1936.