ICTP-EAIFR research in high energy, cosmology and astroparticle physics studies some of the most exciting areas in physics today, from string theory to physics at large energy colliders, from neutrino phenomenology to alternative cosmologies. The research will mirror that which is done at the centre's parent institute, ICTP, which includes investigations into the following:

• Phenomenology of particle physics: Researchers in this area, which bridges theoretical physics (such as quantum field theory and theories of the structure of spacetime) and experimental particle physics, are exploring: neutrino phenomenology; astroparticle physics; phenomenology at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and other high-energy colliders; and flavor physics.
• Cosmology: The study of the large-scale structure and the evolution of the universe has in the last few years entered a qualitatively new phase, driven by a host of experimental results. Topics to be studied include clustering dark energy, non-gaussianity, and eternal inflation.
• String and higher dimensional theories: This field combines quantum mechanics and general relativity into a quantum theory of gravity that attempts to describe all the known natural forces and matter in a mathematically complete system. In string theory, the electrons and quarks inside an atom are vibrational modes of one-dimensional extended objects, relativistic strings. String theorists are exploring holographic QCD and holographic hydrodynamics; topological string theory; spin-2 particles; and the spectrum of a class of brane solutions in minimal gauged supergravity in six dimensions.