SO Center of Excellence
About IFT
What we do
SO(people)
Distinguished Visitors
Things we organise
Instituto de Física Teórica UAM-CSIC
SO Center of Excellence
SO(IFT) is supported by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, which recognises the IFT as a centre of excellence for research in theoretical physics. This recognition followed an evaluation by a panel of world-leading researchers.
From 2013 – 2025
Over the last decade, the Institute has grown significantly in terms of staff, scientific visibility, and economic resources. The Severo Ochoa Distinction, awarded to the Institute for three consecutive periods from 2013 to 2025, has been key to this progress.
An International Hub
The Severo Ochoa Distinction has transformed the IFT into an international hub for theoretical physics within the European ecosystem. The Institute hosts numerous international conferences and workshops and welcomes over 500 researchers every year.
About IFT
The Instituto de Física Teórica IFT UAM-CSIC is a partnership between Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) and Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC).
It is dedicated to theoretical research in fundamental physics, complemented by a robust doctoral training programme and a unique and highly effective outreach initiative.
What we do
The IFT targets three research frontiers in fundamental physics: the Elementary Particles Frontier, the Universe Frontier and the Quantum Frontier.
sO(People)
Distinguished Visitors
The IFT Severo Ochoa has a strategic Excellence Visitor Program that awards a number of IFT Severo Ochoa Distinguished Professor visiting positions to internationally recognized world-leading scientists in the fields of Particle Physics, Astroparticles, Cosmology, and Quantum Information.
In addition, international experts in our research areas with special links to the IFT are awarded a number of IFT Severo Ochoa Associate Researcher Visiting Positions.
SO Chairs
SO Chairs
Meet the SO(IFT) Distinguished Professors
Associate
Researchers
Associate Researchers
Meet the SO(IFT) Associate Researchers
Meet our junior talent
The IFT Severo Ochoa Programme has successfully attracted junior talent through various established programmes. These include pre- and post-doctoral positions, which complement the IFT’s exceptional group of early-stage and junior researchers.
SO(predoc)
SO(predoc)
Meet the PhD researchers hired under the SO(IFT) programme
SO(postdoc)
SO(postdoc)
Meet the postdoctoral researchers hired under the SO(IFT) programme
“la Caixa” Fellowships
“la Caixa” fellowships
Meet the researchers hired under the “la Caixa” fellowship programme at the IFT
Things we organise
Check out our workshops, colloquia, lectures and other events.
The IFT’s flagship outreach activity is our YouTube channel, which has over 700,000 followers and is a reference for Spanish-language physics content. The channel receives nearly 7 million views per year.