The research carried out in the Fundamental Physics theme is focussed on discovering the nature of space and time and the proprieties of matter in the universe at the deepest level. 

Questions include:What is origin of the universe and how did it evolve to produce the structure we see today?  What lies beyond the Standard Model of particle physics? What is the nature of dark matter and dark energy? How can we unify quantum theory with Einsteins theory of General Relativity? Theoretical investigations, especially string theory, also lead to profound connections with pure mathematics and other aspects of theoretical physics.