Jeremy Quastel, a University Professor in the Department of Mathematics in the University of Toronto's Faculty of Arts & Science, is the recipient of the 2025 John C. Polanyi Award from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
The award is given to an individual or team whose research has led to a recent outstanding advance in any NSERC-supported field of the natural sciences or engineering. It is named in honour of John Charles Polanyi, University Professor Emeritus in U of T's Department of Chemistry and winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in chemistry.
Quastel was recognized for his contribution to advancing understanding of randomness in nature through his pioneering work in probability theory. His research centres on the KPZ fixed point that explains how seemingly unrelated random growth processes, such as coffee stains or bacterial colonies, evolve over time and share universal patterns.
“It's great that an NSERC prize for research in science has gone to mathematics this time, a recognition that Canada has really first-rate mathematics,” says Quastel. “The exact sciences of math, computer science and statistics are becoming so much more important.”
“This is well-deserved recognition of Professor Quastel’s approach to mathematics research, of taking chances to see what happens,” says Stephen Wright, interim dean of the Faculty of Arts & Science. “On behalf of the entire faculty, I congratulate him on this wonderful honour.”