SFI External Professor Laurent Hébert-Dufresne (University of Vermont) is the 2026 recipient of the Erdős-Rényi Prize, the top honor for early-career researchers working in network science.
The Network Science Society, which brings together researchers from physics to computer science, biology, social sciences, and economics, awards one young scientist (40 years old or younger) the Erdős-Renyi Prize for accomplishments in network science. Hébert-Dufresne is honored this year for his “foundational contributions to the theory of contagion on complex networks, illuminating how network structure, higher-order interactions, and nonlinear transmission mechanisms shape the spread of diseases, behaviors, and ideas.”
“This recognition reflects the deeply collaborative nature of complex systems research,” says Hébert-Dufresne. “The most exciting questions in network science happen at the intersections — between disciplines, between theory and application, and between people with very different perspectives.”
Hébert-Dufresne’s research focuses on understanding how structure and dynamics coevolve in complex systems. His work spans the spread of infectious diseases and ideas through social networks, sustainable agriculture and pollinator systems, online interactions between hate and counterspeech, and learning dynamics in multidisciplinary teams.
“I find Laurent extremely refreshing. He’s shrewd in the best of ways,” says SFI Professor Sidney Redner, who nominated Hébert-Dufresne for the prize. “He sees opportunities and goes after them with enthusiasm, and often has unexpected and novel insights. For instance, we are working on a model of forest fires that are driven by wind. During this ongoing project, Laurent recognized that other things, like rumors and jokes on the internet, can spread similarly with self-reinforcement. He took that idea and ran with it, leading to a publication in Physical Review Letters last year.”
Hébert-Dufresne joins External Professors Daniel Larremore (2023), Sonia Kéfi (2020), Aaron Clauset (2016), and Mason Porter (2014) and Science Board member Adilson Motter (2013) as recipients of the Erdős-Rényi Prize.
Adapted from the University of Vermont’s news release (May 12, 2026)