The research of the ERC Consolidator Group "Symmetries and Cosmology" is centered around three major research programs:

  1. Uncovering the mathematical structures or symmetries underlying the higher-derivative \(\alpha '\) corrections of string theory.
  2. Constructing duality-covariant target space theories including massive string/M-theory modes in the framework of \(L_{\infty}\) algebras.
  3. Applications in Cosmology: Do \(\alpha '\) corrections allow for interesting cosmological solutions (such as de Sitter vacua)? Are there imprints of massive string modes on the CMB that could be detected by future observations?