The Delta Institute for Theoretical Physics unites the existing institutes for theoretical physics of the University of Amsterdam, Leiden University, and Utrecht University. The consortium obtained an enormous boost in 2013 with the award of a new grant worth 18.3 million euros from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) as part of its 'Gravitation Program’. The associated scientists are determined to continue their tradition of scientific excellence by attacking the grand challenges of modern physics and by attracting a new generation of top talent.

The research program of the Delta Institute for Theoretical Physics is driven by the conviction that theoretical physics can play a unifying role in the exploration of matter at all scales, because the same mathematical concepts and techniques can apply to vastly different physical situations. The history of physics shows that breakthroughs in our understanding quite often result from a description that unifies what was previously disjoint. This motivates us to join forces and attack problems that have resisted solution for decades.