Nominations are invited for the inaugural 2021 Cathleen Synge Morawetz Prize for an author(s) of an outstanding research publication. A series of closely related publications can be considered if they are clearly connected and focused on the same topic. The recipient(s) shall be a member of or have close ties to the Canadian mathematical community, and will receive a commemorative plaque.
The Cathleen Synge Morawetz Prize will be awarded according to the following 6-year rotation of subject areas:
- Geometry and Topology (2021, and every six years thereafter),
- Combinatorics, Discrete mathematics, Logic and foundations, and Mathematical Aspects of Computer Science (2022 , and every six years thereafter),
- Applied mathematics, including but not limited to Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing, Control Theory and Optimization, and Applications of Mathematics in Science and Technology (2023, and every six years thereafter),
- Probability and Mathematical Physics (2024, and every six years thereafter),
- Algebra, Number theory, Algebraic geometry (2025, and every six years thereafter),
- Analysis and Dynamical systems (2026, and every six years thereafter).
All of the above fields will be understood most broadly, to ensure that any outstanding publication can be considered under at least one of the categories. A paper (or a series of papers) which has significantly impacted more than one of the listed fields can be nominated more than once in the six-year rotation. The nomination must focus on a single topic, rather than a broad body of work by the nominee.
This inaugural call for nominations is for an author(s) of a publication or a series of closely related publications in the field of Geometry and Topology.
CMS aims to promote and celebrate diversity in the broadest sense. We strongly encourage department chairs and nominating committees to put forward nominations for outstanding colleagues for research in the mathematical sciences regardless of race, gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation.
The nomination letter should highlight the research paper(s) being nominated, providing evidence of its impact and significance. The nomination letter should list the chosen referees, and should include a recent curriculum vitae of the nominee(s), if available. Up to three reference letters in support of the nomination should be sent directly to the CMS. All documents should be submitted electronically, preferably in PDF format and no later than November 15, 2020, to csmprize@cms.math.ca.
About the Award
The prize was established in 2020 in honour of Cathleen Synge Morawetz (1923-2017), to reflect the remarkable breadth and influence of her research achievements in pure and applied mathematics. Professor Morawetz completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto. She was encouraged to pursue a PhD in Mathematics by Cecilia Krieger (of Krieger-Nelson Prize). She went to MIT for a master’s degree, and then got her PhD at NYU, where she would spend the bulk of her career, becoming the director of Courant Institute in 1984. Her main research contributions were in the field of partial differential equations. Cathleen Synge Morawetz was a recipient of the Jeffery-Williams Prize in 1984 (the only woman to win the Prize up to date), the National Medal of Science (1998), the Leroy P. Steele Prize for Lifetime Achievement (2004) and the George David Birkhoff Prize in Applied Mathematics (2006). Through its explicit rotation among subject areas, this prize highlights the enormous spectrum of research in the Canadian mathematical sciences community.