Overview
UNIVERSE+ is an ERC Synergy Grant project initiated by four leading researchers: Nima Arkani-Hamed (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton), Daniel Baumann (formerly University of Amsterdam, now University of Cambridge), Johannes Henn (Max Planck Institute for Physics, Munich), and Bernd Sturmfels (Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Leipzig). Together, they developed the scientific vision underlying the project and established a unique collaboration that brings together expertise in mathematics, particle physics, cosmology, and geometry across four world-leading research institutions.
The project has created a strong synergy between the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, the University of Amsterdam, the Max Planck Institute for Physics in Munich, and the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences in Leipzig. Following Daniel Baumann’s move to the University of Cambridge in June 2026, this network has expanded further to include Cambridge as an additional hub for collaboration and scientific exchange.
UNIVERSE+ is the first collaboration of this kind and has only recently become possible through a confluence of major advances in both mathematics and fundamental physics. Together, the team seeks to develop a new mathematical language capable of describing physical phenomena across all scales, from the interactions of elementary particles to the large-scale structure of the Universe. By combining ideas from geometry, quantum field theory, and cosmology, the project aims to uncover hidden structures underlying nature while fostering a vibrant international research environment. Through its ambitious scientific program, UNIVERSE+ seeks to attract outstanding young researchers from diverse backgrounds and provide them with the opportunity to contribute to questions
Max Planck Institute for Physics, Garching, Germany
The Max Planck Institute for Physics (MPP) in Garching, close to Munich, is one of the world’s leading research institutions for particle physics.
Scientists study the smallest building blocks of matter and how they interact. Today three experimental and four theoretical departments investigate questions in fundamental physics. The physicists develop and test theoretical models as the basis for experiments with the aim of solving the mysteries of the universe. The MPP was founded in 1917, with Albert Einstein as its first director. Its past faculty members include pioneers such as Max von Laue, Peter Debye, Werner Heisenberg, Ludwig Biermann, Carl Friedrich von Weizsacker, Hans-Peter Durr and Julius Wess. The institute, based in Munich since 1955, recently moved to a new building on the Garching science campus.
Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is the world’s leading center for curiosity-driven basic research.
Its past faculty members include the most famous scientists in the world, such as Albert Einstein, Robert Oppenheimer, Hermann Weyl, John von Neumann, Wolfgang Pauli and Kurt Gödel. In mathematics, forty-two out of sixty-one Fields Medalists have been affiliated with the Institute, and nine of out sixteen Abel Prizes were awarded to Institute professors or visiting scholars. Thirty-four Nobel Laureates have worked at the IAS. Since 1930, it has served as a model for protecting and promoting independent inquiry, prompting the establishment of similar institutes around the world, and underscoring the importance of academic freedom worldwide. Current philanthropic support and a reliable stream of endowment-generated revenue allow its permanent faculty and visiting researchers to freely determine the course of their study.
Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences in Leipzig, Germany
The Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences (MiS), based in Leipzig, carries out research in pure and applied mathematics and promotes the mutual exchange of ideas between mathematics and the natural sciences.
History shows that the fundamental problems of physics, chemistry, biology and other sciences have led to important new developments in mathematics, while mathematics has had a profound impact on these fields of knowledge. For example, Fourier's practical work as a surveyor inspired Gauss, one of the greatest mathematicians of all time, to develop his theory of surfaces and differential geometry. This, in turn, forms the basis of Einstein's theory of general relativity and the standard model of particle physics. Heisenberg's formulation of quantum mechanics also accelerated the development of functional analysis, especially the spectral theory of operators. Finally, the Standard Model of particle physics is formulated in the context of gauge field theories based on a profound synthesis of physics, geometry (topology) and analysis.
University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
The University of Amsterdam (UvA) is one of the leading European universities across the full spectrum of the arts, humanities, natural sciences, social sciences and medical sciences.
Its 6,000 staff, 3,000 PhD candidates and 40,000 students work and study together at various locations in Amsterdam. The mission of the Institute of Physics (IoP) at the UvA is to carry out excellent research across a broad range of fields in both experimental and theoretical physics - spanning from fundamental to more applied; to provide inspiring education within the physics and adjacent curricula; and to transfer our knowledge and enthusiasm into society, both in the form of collaboration with industrial partners as well as in terms of boosting interest in physics in general.
University of Cambridge (Associated Partner)
The University of Cambridge is one of the world’s leading universities, renowned for excellence across the full spectrum of the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, engineering and medical sciences.
Its more than 12,000 staff and nearly 25,000 students work and study across the University’s Schools, Faculties, Departments and 31 Colleges. UNIVERSE+ partners with Cambridge’s Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP), which has a more than 50-year tradition of world-class research across a broad range of subjects in applied mathematics and theoretical physics. As the academic home of Stephen Hawking for many decades, DAMTP has a particularly distinguished history in cosmology, gravitation and fundamental physics. The Department currently comprises approximately 50 academic staff, 85 postdoctoral researchers and 110 research students.
About ERC Synergy Grants
ERC Synergy Grants fund collaborative projects that, due to their complexity, are carried out by several scientists and their groups, to achieve breakthroughs that would not be possible in individual projects. For this purpose, the ERC allocates grants of up to 10 million Euros for a period of six years.
