Astrophysics axis

The major questions concern the functioning of the solar system, the formation and evolution of stars and planetary systems, the formation and evolution of large structures, and physics under extreme conditions. The fields covered are cosmology, galaxies, high energies, the interstellar medium, extraterrestrial matter, star formation, planetary sciences, solar and stellar physics, and astrophysical plasmas. The main methods used are ground and space instrumentation (in the broadest sense, including all phases from the design of observation instruments to their astrophysical exploitation), data and signal science, data analysis and interpretation, numerical simulations and theoretical work.