The “Standard model  (SM) of the elementary particles” is  the established model to describe the interactions and behavior of the elementary particles.  A cornerstone of the SM is the SU(3)×SU(2)×U(1) gauge symmetry which describes the strong as well as  the electroweak interactions. While the SU(2)×U(1) part describing the electroweak interactions can be well treated by the known perturbative methods, it is still an open question to find mathematical tools to predict the behavior of  strong interactions (described by the  SU(3) gauge symmetry)  in the low energy regime. In particular, the  distributions of  the constituents of the proton, which are  bound together by  strong interactions, are a  subject of active research. The accurate determination of non-perturbative  quantities such as parton distribution functions (PDFs) and generalized parton distributions (GPDs) through the global analysis of the experimental data would be crucial in this regard. 
Both theoretical considerations and experimental observations indicate that the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics cannot be the ultimate theory of the nature. For example,  to account for  the observed neutrino data, the SM has to be augmented to give neutrinos tiny but nonzero masses. Another example is the nature of dark matter. Although  a myriad of hints in favor of  the gravitational effects of dark matter have been accumulated over the last few decades, we do not  still  know what kind of particles, the dark matter is made of.
Any extension of the SM will potentially induce novel effects on various observable quantities. It is up to a phenomenologist to identify and analyze such effects.
A brief review of the main challenges and concerns of the hep-ph group in the physics school of IPM  as well as its brief history can be found in this article.

Since 2012, our group has been an associate partner  of European networks, INVISIBLEs, INVISIBLEsPLUS, Elusives, HiDDeN and Asymmetry.
Our group is also a member of the international DUNE long baseline experiment.