About SMI

SMI. Copyright: Robert Herbst

The Stefan Meyer Institute (SMI) is devoted to basic research in the field of subatomic physics. Our research focuses on the study of fundamental symmetries and interactions, addressing the following questions:

  • What are the properties of the forces that exist in nature?
  • What is the origin of the masses of the visible universe?
  • Why do the remains of the big bang consist only of matter and not also of antimatter?

We specialize in precision spectroscopy of exotic atoms and exotic meson-nucleus bound states as an integral part of international collaborations at largescale research facilities including

  • CERN (Geneva, Switzerland),
  • LNF-INFN (Frascati, Italy),
  • J-PARC (Tokai, Japan),
  • GSI (Darmstadt, Germany) and
  • FAIR (Darmstadt, Germany).

These are among the world’s leading facilities for subatomic physics and our projects are subject to rigorous annual evaluation to monitor their progress in a dynamic and expanding field. We aspire to perform research that increases the understanding of fundamental physics principles while simultaneously providing opportunities for young researchers in Austria to obtain valuable experience at institutes unavailable to them at home.