In 2003, he become a professor in the Analysis, Mathematical Physics and Probability group at the University of Geneva.

[4][5] In 2010, Smirnov became the founding director of the Chebyshev Laboratory in Saint Petersburg State University in Russia.

[7] Smirnov's theorem has led to a fairly complete theory for percolation on the triangular lattice, and to its relationship to the Schramm–Loewner evolution introduced by Oded Schramm.

[4] In 2010 Smirnov was awarded the Fields medal for his work on the mathematical foundations of statistical physics, particularly finite lattice models.

[9] His citation reads "for the proof of conformal invariance of percolation and the planar Ising model in statistical physics".