Cathleen Synge Morawetz Prize
The Cathleen Synge Morawetz Prize recognizes the author or authors of an outstanding research publication. A series of closely related publications may be considered if they are clearly connected and focused on the same topic. At least one author must be part of the Canadian mathematical community.
The prize is awarded on a six-year rotation of subject areas:
- 2024+6i: Probability and mathematical physics
- 2025+6i: Algebra, number theory, algebraic geometry
- 2026+6i: Analysis and dynamical systems
- 2027+6i: Geometry and topology
- 2028+6i: Combinatorics, discrete mathematics, logic and foundations, and mathematical aspects of computer science
- 2029+6i: Applied mathematics, including but not limited to numerical analysis and scientific computing, control theory and optimization, and applications of mathematics in science and technology
Each field above will be interpreted broadly, so that any outstanding publication can be considered under at least one category. A paper or series of papers that has significantly impacted more than one listed field may be nominated more than once within the rotation — but each nomination must focus on a single topic, rather than on a broad body of work by the nominee.
Deadline: 30 September 2026.
The first award was presented in 2021.
Prize
The recipient(s) will receive a commemorative plaque.
The Cathleen Synge Morawetz Prize is named in honour of:
This 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).