International Institute for Particle Astrophysics of Polish Academy of Sciences

The Institute’s Activities

The Institute’s work on uncovering the hidden Universe encompasses key areas of theoretical research, including astrophysics and particle cosmology, as well as three main experimental fields: the search for dark matter, the detection and study of neutrinos and gravitational waves, and R&D into new technologies in these research areas. Scientific activities are carried out by an international team of scientists, engineers and programmers, including experienced researchers, postdocs, PhD students and highly qualified technicians.
Astrocent plays a key role in international collaborative projects in key areas of particle astrophysics, and its researchers participate in experiments such as DarkSide-20k and DEAP-3600 (dark matter), Hyper-Kamiokande and KM3NeT (neutrinos), Advanced Virgo and the Einstein Telescope (gravitational waves), as well as DRD1 (gas detectors).
The institute’s mission is not only to explore the mysteries of the hidden Universe, but also to deliver technological innovations that can be applied in the modern economy and provide solutions to the greatest challenges of the contemporary world, such as health, security and climate change. Combining fundamental scientific research with practical applications will lead both to the advancement of our understanding of the Universe and to the improvement of social welfare.

Researchers associated with Astrocent are the authors of numerous articles in journals indexed by the Journal Citation

Institutional support

The transformation of the AstroCeNT Centre of Excellence, established in 2018, through its separation from the Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Centre (CAMK PAN) into an independent research unit, and its subsequent development, are based on three main pillars. Half of the funding is provided by the Astrocent Plus project (from January 2025) under the Horizon Europe Teaming for Excellence programme, with the remainder coming from funding under the International Research Agendas (MAB) initiative of the Foundation for Polish Science and support from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (both to be awarded at the end of 2025). Together, these funding sources will provide €30 million over a six-year period and will form a stable basis for expanding the team and laboratory infrastructure, as well as for establishing new and strengthening existing partnerships with leading centres in Poland and worldwide, and for the continuous development and enhancement of the skills of research and support staff.