Mathematics & Physical Sciences: Simons Collaborations in Mathematics and the Physical Sciences
Convening outstanding researchers to address questions of fundamental scientific importance.
Funding
Open
The aim of the Simons Collaborations in MPS program is to stimulate progress on fundamental scientific questions of major importance in mathematics, theoretical physics and theoretical computer science.
Apply by October 29, 2026
Current Collaborations
This collaboration, directed by Nicolás Yunes at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, studies strong gravity through theory and gravitational observations.
This collaboration, directed by Andrew Strominger of Harvard University, advances the holographic principle in asymptotically flat spacetimes.
This collaboration, directed by Igor Klebanov of Princeton University, advances our understanding of confinement in gauge theories, including quantum chromodynamics.
We use cutting-edge tools to study Lie groups, mathematical structures which are invaluable to modern physics.
This collaboration, directed by Roger Blandford of Stanford University, will explore classical and quantum electrodynamics under the extreme conditions provided by compact astrophysical objects, such as neutron stars and black holes.
This collaboration, directed by Andrea Alù of the Advanced Science Research Center at The Graduate Center, CUNY, develops metamaterials with novel wave-manipulation capabilities.
This collaboration, directed by Constantin Teleman of the University of California, Berkeley, brings together a group of physicists and mathematicians, working across disciplinary boundaries, to unlock the power of symmetry in its broadest, most general form.
The goals of this collaboration, directed by Amitava Bhattacharjee of Princeton University, include a modern stellarator optimization code that can exploit the full power of petascale and exascale computers, and a few optimal designs of next-generation stellarator experiments.
This Simons Collaboration develops new simulations and machine learning tools to better understand galaxy formation and the evolution of the Universe.
The goal of this collaboration, directed by Svitlana Mayboroda of the University of Minnesota, is a unified understanding of wave localization, enabling the solution of some of the most compelling puzzles in modern condensed matter physics and gaining control over the behavior of waves in disordered media.
This collaboration advances the classification of algebraic varieties, a central problem in algebraic geometry.
This collaboration, directed by Aaron Lauda of the University of Southern California, brings together researchers to advance the next generation of tools in low-dimensional topology.
This collaboration, directed by Martin Olsson of the University of California, Berkeley, brings together experts in a wide variety of algebraic disciplines to explore new perfection techniques and their applications to major open problems across algebra, geometry, topology and number theory.
This collaboration, directed by Surya Ganguli at Stanford University, develops the scientific foundations of learning and neural computation in modern AI.
This collaboration, directed by Scott Sheffield at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, develops new mathematical foundations for quantum field theory.
This collaboration advances the theory of unconventional superconductivity in materials that cannot be explained by conventional models.
A new-generation cosmic microwave background observatory located in Chile’s Atacama Desert.
Directed by Omer Reingold of Stanford University, this collaboration establishes mathematical foundations for algorithmic fairness through computer science theory.
The new collaboration will explore randomness and correlations in number theory, tackling problems related to the Riemann zeta function, prime numbers and other major questions in the field.
The goal of this collaboration, directed by Ashvin Vishwanath of Harvard University, is to develop the theory of ultra-quantum matter from fundamental characterization and classification to the design for realization and testing of ultra-quantum matter in the lab.
A multidisciplinary community exploring nonlocal observables in physics.
This collaboration, directed by Jalal Shatah of New York University, is the first attempt for a systematic coordinated study of wave turbulence theory in a large-scale project, bringing together state-of-the-art skills in the areas of mathematics and physics, with theoretical, experimental and numerical expertise.
Past Collaborations
The Simons Collaboration on Algorithms and Geometry addressed fundamental questions at the interface of mathematics and theoretical computer science.
This collaboration developed new ways to understand and calculate the behavior of systems with many interacting electrons.
The Simons Collaboration on Homological Mirror Symmetry brings together a group of leading mathematicians working towards the goal of proving Homological Mirror Symmetry (HMS) in full generality, and fully exploring its applications.
A large-scale effort by some of the leading researchers in both communities to foster communication, education and collaboration between them, thereby advancing both fields and ultimately solving some of the deepest problems in physics.
This collaboration advanced the understanding of glassy systems, from disorder and marginal stability to complex far-from-equilibrium dynamics.
This collaboration worked to map and understand the full space of quantum field theories, including strongly coupled models.
This collaboration advanced the theory and applications of spaces with special holonomy, particularly the exceptional cases of G₂ and Spin(7).
This collaboration advanced number theory and arithmetic geometry through computational tools and methods.
