University of Toronto professor wins prestigious Fields Medal, known as the ‘Nobel Prize of Mathematics’

University of Toronto professor Jacob Tsimerman has been awarded the Fields Medal, one of the world's highest honours in mathematics, after proving the long-standing André-Oort conjecture.

The university announced the award on Thursday, saying Tsimerman is the first scholar at a Canadian institution to receive the honour and only the second Canadian to win it.

The André-Oort conjecture is a major mathematical theory involving special points within geometric spaces that contain complex arithmetic information. It had challenged mathematicians for decades before Tsimerman's proof.

In a statement released by the University of Toronto, Tsimerman said: “Math is such a team sport that it becomes impossible to disentangle who contributed what on projects. I’m lucky to have many of my collaborators as close friends, which helps work feel fun and playful.”

“I had a lot of support and resources growing up, along with plenty of puzzles to solve. And that’s what mathematics is, basically: puzzles.”

Tsimerman began studying at the University of Toronto at the age of 16 and completed his mathematics degree in just two years.

He later earned a PhD from Princeton University and became the youngest person to achieve full professor status in the university's mathematics department.

The Fields Medal is awarded every four years by the International Mathematical Union to mathematicians under the age of 40.