Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics

Opportunity Description:

The center is committed to the development of innovative approaches that combine both physics and astronomy to further our understanding of the birth and earliest evolution of the Universe. The KICP was founded in August 2001 as one of the National Science Foundation's Physics Frontiers Centers (PFC) and was originally named the Center for Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago. On March 10th 2004, following a generous endowment from the Kavli Foundation the CfCP was renamed the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics (KICP). This endowment has made this research institute devoted to interdisciplinary cosmological physics a permanent entity at the University of Chicago. 

There are a number of profound questions that form the primary scientific focus of the Institute:

• What is the nature of the dark energy that dominates the Universe and what is its impact on the evolution of the Universe?
• Was there an inflationary epoch in the first moments of the Universe, and if so, what is the underlying physics that caused it?
• What is the nature of dark matter? Is it a Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) and if it is how can it be discovered and how does it fit into the Standard Model of Particle Physics?
• What clues do nature's highest energy particles offer about the unification of forces?

Application Process: 

The KICP strongly supports undergraduate research internships. Local students who would like to work with KICP faculty should fill out the interest form to begin the process of securing a position at the Center. 

Each year we also host students from a national REU program administered through the Department of Physics that specifically targets women and under-represented minorities.