Max Planck-IAS-NTU Center Inaugurated at LeCosPA
On September 1, 2025, the Max Planck Society, the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) and National Taiwan University (NTU) officially opened the Max Planck-IAS-NTU Center for Particle Physics, Cosmology and Geometry.
The opening ceremony took place at LeCosPA and welcomed many distinguished guests including Wen-Chang Chen (President, NTU), Claudia Felser (Vice President, Max Planck Society), and Chee-Chun Leung (President, Quanta Computer). A highlight of the event was the ceremonial exchange of the cooperation agreement, signed by Claudia Felser and Wen-Chang Chen, with Matias Zaldarriaga (Richard Black Professor, IAS) representing the Institute for Advanced Study.
Particle physics investigates the fundamental constituents of matter at scales smaller than protons and neutrons, while cosmology examines the structure and evolution of the Universe on the largest scales. As the Center’s Co-Director Daniel Baumann (Director of LeCosPA, NTU) noted during the ceremony: "The new Center brings together expertise in particle physics, cosmology, and mathematics, with the ambition of creating a unifying framework for understanding the Universe across all scales."
NTU President Wen-Chang Chen emphasized NTU's commitment, stating: "We are proud to see NTU play a central role in this endeavor, and we look forward to the discoveries and innovations that will emerge from this community of excellence."
The Center is co-directed by Johannes Henn (Max Planck Institute for Physics), Nima Arkani-Hamed (IAS), and Daniel Baumann (NTU), with deputy co-directors Bernd Sturmfels (Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences), Matias Zaldarriaga (IAS), and Yu-tin Huang (NTU). Operations began a few months prior to the official launch, with five years of initial funding. In Taiwan, funding is provided in part by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) and the Ministry of Education (MoE).
