• Astronomy research - Webb’s first deep field
  • Artist’s impression of two inspiralling black holes (ESA)
  • Access to global facilities, like the Large Hadron Collider at CERN
  • Artists Impression of Proxima b, discovered by our physicists

Welcome to The Centre for Fundamental Physics

The Centre for Fundamental Physics investigates the most fundamental aspects of our universe, ranging from the tiniest sub-atomic particles to the vast structure of galaxies and the universe as a whole. Our strategy is to push complementary aspects of experimental and theoretical research, maximising our fundamental science output.

On the smallest scale, our particle physics research studies the fundamental building blocks of matter, providing precise measurements of Standard Model particles, the Higgs boson, and the extraordinary phenomenon of neutrino oscillations. A better understanding of these processes will have significant implications for our understanding of the universe and its evolution.

On the other end of the scale, our centre is dedicated to understanding astrophysical phenomena throughout the universe. We exploit observational, theoretical, and simulation methods to study relativistic and survey cosmology, extrasolar planets, solar and space plasma physics.

Our research topics are all supported by strong links to our theoretical research in quantum field theory, string theory, and scattering amplitudes. The centre is committed to looking towards the future and has been at the forefront of developing future detector technologies that have strong links to industry. We have also developed advanced machine learning algorithms, which have applications both within and outside of our areas of research.

Events

News

Recent Publications

  • The past, present and future of observations of externally irradiated disks
    Allen M, Anania R, Andersen M, Aru M-L, Ballabio G, Ballering NP, Beccari G, Berné O, Bik A, Boyden R, Coleman G, Díaz-Berrios J, Eatson JW, Frediani J, Forbrich J, Gkimisi K, Goicoechea JR, Gupta S, Guarcello MG, Haworth TJ, et al.
    The Open Journal of Astrophysics, Maynooth University vol. 8 
    02-05-2025
  • Searching for star formation towards the Eos molecular cloud
    Saxena S, Haworth TJ, Burkhart B, Dharmawardena T, Gillen E, Pattle K, Karoly J and Hamden E
    Monthly Notices of The Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, Oxford University Press (OUP) 
    02-05-2025
  • Time-dependent solutions of biadjoint scalar field theories
    Armstrong-Williams K and White CD
    Physics Letters B, Elsevier 
    01-05-2025

View more publications »

Recent Grants

  • RS-NIF 2024: Celestial Construction of Scattering Amplitudes - Lecheng Ren
    Ricardo Monteiro
    £257,848 Royal Society
    31-03-2025 - 30-03-2027
  • Combinatorics and algorithms for quantum states in holography
    Sanjaye Ramgoolam
    £12,000 Royal Society
    01-01-2025 - 31-12-2026
  • URF 2023: The environmental origins of exoplanetary systems - Andrew Winter
    Andrew Winter and Thomas Haworth
    £1,815,619 Royal Society
    01-01-2025 - 31-12-2032

View more grants »