Scientists will train a new generation of researchers to address the universe’s most fundamental questions through a major new European network including the University of Southampton.

The HIDDeN Innovative Training Network will probe mysteries through interconnected research streams to discover answers that could lead to a New Standard Model.

Professor Steve King, of the Southampton High Energy Physics (SHEP) theory group, will lead the University's contribution to the international research programme which will launch diverse PhD and early career research projects over the next three years.

HIDDeN, or Hunting Invisibles: Dark sectors, Dark matter and Neutrinos, unites 12 research nodes across six European countries and over 20 partner organisations.

"Although we have discovered much about what nature is made of since the discovery of electrons, most of the universe and its workings remains hidden to us," Steve says.

"Neutrinos are the most abundant known fermion but the reasons why they have mass and mix are unexplained, we have evidence of Dark Matter but we do not even know which particle makes it up, and particles and antiparticles have been shown to behave differently without any compelling reason.

"These questions cannot find answers in the commonly accepted picture of particles and interactions, the Standard Model, and are the first evidence that the model needs to be extended to a more fundamental theory which contains additional elements and new interactions."

HIDDeN will focus on revealing symmetries and asymmetries that are yet to be discovered and the particles on which they act, in particular the invisible sector, comprising neutrinos, dark matter and other elusive particles.

Researchers will explore the puzzles related to the Charge-Parity (CP) symmetry in the lepton sector as well as in strong-interactions. The symmetries responsible for the mass and mixing patterns of known particles, as well as the symmetries (and asymmetries) responsible for dark matter stability and its interactions, will also be explored.

The consortium is coordinated by the University of Durham and includes representatives of key experiments and laboratories on the field, such as CERN and Fermilab, together with seven are private sector enterprises.

HIDDeN is the third European Innovative Training Network to be awarded to the Southampton SHEP group in the past decade, following previous successes with the INVISIBLES and ELUSIVES programmes.

Physics and Astronomy at Southampton has received a Newton International Fellowship to use data collected on the International Space Station (ISS) to help understand how black holes and neutron stars interact with their surroundings.

Dr Yanan Wang, from the Observatoire Astronomique de Strasbourg, in France, has received the Fellowship to work with Royal Society University Research Fellow Dr Diego Altamirano on a project that will use data from the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) aboard the ISS.

Diego said: “NICER is currently the best X-ray observatory to study bright astrophysical objects that emit in soft X-rays. Our results will be used to optimise the design of the next generation of X-ray observatories.”

Yanan said: “By studying the properties of the immediate surroundings of a compact object, for instance black holes and neutron stars, we will be able to shed some light on the nature of such objects. More importantly, we will use our results to simulate potential observations done with the next generation of X-ray observatories known as the Enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry mission (eXTP).

“The eXTP is a new X-ray observatory being developed by a large China-Europe consortium. Our project will also contribute towards strengthening the scientific connections between China and the UK.

“New results and issues discovered in this research will help to understand the X-ray properties in time domain, which are among the main interests of the Astronomy Group at the University of Southampton.

“In order to observe extra-terrestrial sources, these sources must be observed from above the atmosphere, so my research significantly relies on the X-ray facilities in orbit and these new facilities we are developing are crucial for not only me, but other researchers.”

The Newton International Fellowship is awarded to non-UK scientists at an early stage of their research career who wish to conduct research in the UK.

Yanan added: “This funding offers me the opportunity to work with one of the world's leading groups - based at the University of Southampton - which is focused on high-energy observational astronomy. I will also continue my collaboration with institutions across Europe and China, such as the University of Groningen, the Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen and the Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.”