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Universe publishes Special Issues to create collections of papers on specific topics, with the aim of building a community of authors and readers to discuss the latest research and develop new ideas and research directions. Special Issues are led by Guest Editors, who are experts on the topic and all Special Issue submissions follow MDPI's standard editorial process. The journal’s Editor-in-Chief and/or designated Editorial Board Member will oversee Guest Editor appointments and Special Issue proposals, checking their content for relevance and ensuring the suitability of the material for the journal. The papers published in a Special Issue will be collected and displayed on a dedicated page of the journal’s website. Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies and Guest Editor responsibilities can be found here. For any inquiries related to a Special Issue, please contact the Editorial Office.

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Solar Activity During Cycle 25

edited by Hui Li and

Jianchao Xue

submission deadline 30 Sep 2026 | Viewed by 1191 | Submission Open

Keywords: solar magnetic field; solar flares; coronal mass ejections (CMEs); chromospheric and coronal heating; prominences/filaments and jets; solar activity and space weather; solar activity diagnosis with machine learning; solar instrumentation

(This special issue belongs to the Section Solar and Stellar Physics)

Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays: Past, Present and Future

edited by

Dmitriy Kostunin

and Vladimir Lenok

submission deadline 1 Oct 2026 | 4 articles | Viewed by 5135 | Submission Open

Keywords: ultra-high energy cosmic rays; astrophysical neutrino; high-energy gamma rays; multimessenger astronomy; cosmic accelerators

(This special issue belongs to the Section Space Science)

Top Quark Physics: Recent Developments and Future Directions

edited by Yajuan Zheng and Ian Lewis

submission deadline 30 Oct 2026 | Viewed by 461 | Submission Open

Keywords: top quark mass; top Yukawa coupling; potential NRQCD; toponium; spin-polarization correlation; Green’s function; BSM; SMEFT&HEFT; CP violation in the top sector

(This special issue belongs to the Section High Energy Nuclear and Particle Physics)

Exploring and Constraining Alternative Theories of Gravity

edited by

Cláudio Gomes

and

Gonzalo J. Olmo

submission deadline 31 Oct 2026 | 8 articles | Viewed by 8629 | Submission Open

Keywords: gravitation; cosmology; modified theories of gravity; scalar–vector–tensor theories; torsion and non-metricity; higher-order theories; models beyond the standard model of particle physics; quantum gravity; inflationary universe; gravitational wave universe; dark universe; observational constraints; ground- and space-based missions

(This special issue belongs to the Section Gravitation)

Theoretical Physics and Cosmology: A Themed Issue in Honor of Professor Emilio Elizalde on the Occasion of His 75th Birthday

edited by Tanmoy Paul and Diego Sáez-Chillón Gómez

submission deadline 31 Oct 2026 | 4 articles | Viewed by 3284 | Submission Open

Keywords: cosmology; cosmological model; viscous cosmology; dark energy; modified gravity

(This special issue belongs to the Section Cosmology)

New Discoveries in Astronomical Data (II)

edited by Yanxia Zhang and

A-Li Luo

submission deadline 31 Oct 2026 | 10 articles | Viewed by 3239 | Submission Open

Keywords: artificial intelligence; machine learning; deep learning; discoveries: from radio to gamma-rays; astrostatistics and astroinformatics; data analysis: methods; statistical: astronomical data bases

(This special issue belongs to the Section Astroinformatics and Astrostatistics)

Quantum Field Theory in Curved Spacetime and Its Implications for Cosmology, Blackholes and Quantum Gravity, 2nd Edition

edited by Korumilli Sravan Kumar and

Joao Marto

submission deadline 15 Nov 2026 | 4 articles | Viewed by 5369 | Submission Open

Keywords: quantum field theory in curved spacetime; quantum gravity; black holes; cosmology

(This special issue belongs to the Section Foundations of Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Gravity)

Cosmic Rays and Astroparticle Physics

edited by

Alexandre Marcowith

submission deadline 30 Nov 2026 | 1 articles | Viewed by 728 | Submission Open

Keywords: cosmic rays; high-energy astrophysics; turbulence; kinetic and first principles physics; acceleration and transport processes

(This special issue belongs to the Section Space Science)

Advances in Quantum Gravity: Unifying Symmetry and Spacetime

edited by

César Augusto Zen Vasconcellos

Peter Otto Hess

and

Fridolin Weber

submission deadline 30 Nov 2026 | Viewed by 625 | Submission Open

Keywords: quantum groups and non-commutative spacetime; loop quantum gravity and spin foams; Hořava–Lifshitz gravity and asymptotic safety; Lifshitz gravity and asymptotic safety; string theory, holography, and generalized symmetries; emergent gravity and quantum foundations; phenomenology and observational frontiers

(This special issue belongs to the Section Gravitation)

Active Galactic Nuclei: Accretion and Supermassive Black Holes

edited by Edi Bon and

Nataša Bon

submission deadline 30 Nov 2026 | Viewed by 400 | Submission Open

Keywords: active galactic nuclei (AGN); accretion disks; supermassive black holes (SMBH); broad-line region (BLR); dusty torus; AGN unification (type 1 and type 2); changing-look AGN; radius–luminosity relation; black hole mass scaling; quasar main sequence (eigenvector 1); supermassive binary black holes; quasar cosmology

(This special issue belongs to the Section Galaxies and Clusters)

Exploring the Formation and Impact of Type Ia Supernovae

edited by Umberto Battino, Benjamin Rose and Robert Izzard

submission deadline 1 Dec 2026 | 2 articles | Viewed by 2215 | Submission Open

Keywords: light curves; supernovae; nucleosynthesis; nuclear reactions; galactic chemical evolution; supernova remnants; cosmic expansion

(This special issue belongs to the Section Solar and Stellar Physics)

Gravitational Lensing in the Era of JWST, Euclid, and Beyond

edited by

Diana Scognamiglio

submission deadline 1 Dec 2026 | Viewed by 365 | Submission Open

Keywords: gravitational lensing; weak lensing; strong lensing; dark matter; cosmology; JWST; Euclid; Roman; large-scale structure; galaxy clusters; simulations

(This special issue belongs to the Section Cosmology)

The Role of Black Hole Growth in Galaxy Formation and Evolution

edited by

Mojtaba Raouf

and Violette Impellizzeri

submission deadline 15 Dec 2026 | Viewed by 734 | Submission Open

Keywords: supermassive black holes; galaxy formation and evolution; active galactic nuclei; star formation rates; gas dynamics; cosmological simulations; black hole mergers; gravitational waves; interstellar medium; structure formation

(This special issue belongs to the Section Gravitation)

Quantum Gravity Phenomenology: Insights and Advances

edited by

Iarley P. Lobo

submission deadline 26 Dec 2026 | 5 articles | Viewed by 7104 | Submission Open

Keywords: Lorentz invariance violation; generalized uncertainty principle; non-Riemannian geometries; entanglement; quantum correlations; ultraviolet/infrared mixing; multi-messenger astrophysics; quantum information

(This special issue belongs to the Section Foundations of Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Gravity)

Geometric Theories of Gravity

edited by

László Árpád Gergely

submission deadline 31 Dec 2026 | 4 articles | Viewed by 5669 | Submission Open

Keywords: spacetime; general relativity and its geometric reformulations; modified gravity: formal aspects and applications; perturbations and gravitational waves; cosmology, dark matter, and dark energy models

(This special issue belongs to the Section Gravitation)

Oscillations and Instabilities of Solar Filaments

edited by

Yuandeng Shen

and

Qingmin Zhang

submission deadline 31 Dec 2026 | 3 articles | Viewed by 2718 | Submission Open

Keywords: solar filaments; solar prominences; filament oscillations; MHD waves; coronal seismology; filament instabilities; solar eruptions; coronal mass ejections (CMEs)

(This special issue belongs to the Section Solar and Stellar Physics)

Hairy Black Holes: Insights and Advances

edited by

Xiao Yan Chew

and Jose Luis Blázquez-Salcedo

submission deadline 31 Dec 2026 | 3 articles | Viewed by 1900 | Submission Open

Keywords: hairy black holes; general relativity; modified gravity; gravitational waves; black hole shadows; quantum gravity; no-hair theorem; numerical relativity; dark matter models; Event Horizon Telescope

(This special issue belongs to the Section Compact Objects)

HE/VHE Gamma-Ray in Extragalactic-Astrophysics: Observations, Models, and Cosmic Implications

edited by

Zhiyuan Pei

and

Hubing Xiao

submission deadline 31 Dec 2026 | 1 articles | Viewed by 936 | Submission Open

Keywords: HE/VHE gamma-ray observations; active galactic nucleus; gamma-ray bursts; gamma-ray propagation; cosmic rays; EBL attenuation

(This special issue belongs to the Section High Energy Nuclear and Particle Physics)

Quark Confinement and the Hadron Spectrum

edited by

David Blaschke

, Oleksii Ivanytskyi and

Janusz Miśkiewicz

submission deadline 31 Dec 2026 | 1 articles | Viewed by 664 | Submission Open

Keywords: vacuum structure and confinement; topology and confinement at the interface of particle physics and condensed matter; light quarks; heavy quarks; deconfinement; QCD and new physics; nuclear and astro-particle physics; strongly coupled theories and dark matter; statistical analysis, machine learning and quantum computing for particle physics

(This special issue belongs to the Section High Energy Nuclear and Particle Physics)

Primordial Black Holes: Formation, Signatures, and Cosmological Implications

edited by Albert Escrivà

submission deadline 31 Dec 2026 | Viewed by 629 | Submission Open

Keywords: PBH formation mechanisms; cosmological inflation; dark matter from PBHs; relativistic gravitational collapse; gravitational-wave signatures of PBHs

(This special issue belongs to the Section Compact Objects)

Axion Dark Matter and Cosmology

edited by Wei Chao

submission deadline 31 Dec 2026 | Viewed by 461 | Submission Open

Keywords: axion physics; strong CP problem; topological defects; quality problem; dark matter; baryogenesis; thermal field theory

(This special issue belongs to the Section Cosmology)

Solar Radio Bursts and Radio Emission Mechanisms

edited by

Costas Alissandrakis

, Zongjun Ning and Guannan Gao

submission deadline 31 Dec 2026 | Viewed by 422 | Submission Open

Keywords: solar radio bursts; high resolution observing facilities; fine structures; zebra patterns; fibers; type III bursts; drifting pulsation structures; narrow band bursts; plasma emission; electron cyclotron maser radiation; gyrosynchrotron radiation; simulations

(This special issue belongs to the Section Solar and Stellar Physics)

Challenges in the Evolutionary Mechanisms of Nearby Galaxies: Resolving Problems from Dwarfs to BCGs

edited by

Hassen Yesuf

submission deadline 31 Dec 2026 | Viewed by 368 | Submission Open

Keywords: spatially resolved analysis; star formation; feedback; baryon cycle; nuclear activity; galaxy environment

(This special issue belongs to the Section Galaxies and Clusters)

Thermal, Dynamic and Magnetic Properties of Solar Jets

edited by Ruisheng Zheng, Jiajia Liu and

Qingmin Zhang

submission deadline 31 Dec 2026 | Viewed by 359 | Submission Open

Keywords: solar jets; coronal mass ejections; solar flares; solar activities; magnetic fields; magnetic reconnection; particle acceleration

(This special issue belongs to the Section Solar and Stellar Physics)

Weak Gravitational Lensing: Probing Cosmology and Dark Matter Halos

edited by

Huanyuan Shan

submission deadline 31 Dec 2026 | Viewed by 270 | Submission Open

Keywords: weak gravitational lensing; shear measurement and calibration; dark matter halos; cosmic shear; cosmology

(This special issue belongs to the Section Cosmology)

The Royal Road: Eclipsing Binaries and Transiting Exoplanets, 2nd Edition

edited by

Tamás Borkovits

and

Szilard Csizmadia

submission deadline 31 Jan 2027 | 2 articles | Viewed by 3666 | Submission Open

Keywords: eclipsing binaries; transiting exoplanets; eclipse and transit timing variations; hierarchical multiple systems; multi-planet systems; ellipsoidal, reflection, and beaming effects of binary stars; phase curves of exoplanets; atmospheres of exoplanets; dynamics of multiple systems; formation and evolution of binary systems and planetary systems; interior structure of stars and planets; occurrence rates and frequencies of planets, brown dwarfs, and stars

(This special issue belongs to the Section Planetary Sciences)

Mechanisms Behind Black Holes and Relativistic Jets

edited by

Ioana Dutan

submission deadline 31 Jan 2027 | 2 articles | Viewed by 3622 | Submission Open

Keywords: black holes; relativistic jets; active galactic nuclei; gamma-ray bursts; numerical simulations

(This special issue belongs to the Section Compact Objects)

Neutrino Oscillations and Interactions

edited by

Oleksandr Tomalak

submission deadline 31 Jan 2027 | 2 articles | Viewed by 1746 | Submission Open

Keywords: neutrino oscillation parameters; PMNS matrix; neutrino interactions; neutrino mass hierarchy; charge-parity (CP) violation

(This special issue belongs to the Section High Energy Nuclear and Particle Physics)

Advances in Machine Learning Techniques in Cosmology and Particle Physics

edited by Esteban González and

Carlos Maldonado

submission deadline 31 Jan 2027 | 1 articles | Viewed by 817 | Submission Open

Keywords: cosmology; particle physics; machine learning; deep learning; data analysis

(This special issue belongs to the Section Astroinformatics and Astrostatistics)

Neutral Hydrogen Observations: Techniques and Cosmological Insights

edited by

Yougang Wang

and

Yichao Li

submission deadline 31 Jan 2027 | Viewed by 399 | Submission Open

Keywords: neutral hydrogen intensity mapping; neutral hydrogen galaxy; neutral hydrogen absorber; large-scale structure; galaxy dynamics; galaxy and galaxy clusters

(This special issue belongs to the Section Cosmology)

Cosmic Dust: Evolution Across SNRs, AGB Stars and the ISM

edited by Mónica Relaño Pastor and

Ilse De Looze

submission deadline 1 Feb 2027 | Viewed by 316 | Submission Open

Keywords: galaxies; interstellar dust; stars; supernovae; galaxy evolution; chemical and dust evolution; star formation; high-redshift galaxies; galaxy simulations; depletion

(This special issue belongs to the Section Galaxies and Clusters)

The Hidden Stories of Small Planetary Bodies

edited by Emese Forgacs-Dajka and Csaba Kiss

submission deadline 28 Feb 2027 | 5 articles | Viewed by 7831 | Submission Open

Keywords: small solar system bodies; asteroids and comets; celestial dynamics; survey astronomy; machine learning in planetary science; multi-wavelength observations; data-driven modeling; evolution of minor planets; AI applications in space science; planetary mission science

(This special issue belongs to the Section Planetary Sciences)

Primordial Black Holes: Observational Strategies

edited by

Jeremy Mould

submission deadline 28 Feb 2027 | 5 articles | Viewed by 4182 | Submission Open

Keywords: dark matter; gravitational radiation; high-energy astrophysics; microlensing

(This special issue belongs to the Section Compact Objects)

X-Ray Binary Transients: Insights and Discoveries

edited by Ignacio Negueruela

submission deadline 28 Feb 2027 | 1 articles | Viewed by 1097 | Submission Open

Keywords: X-ray binaries; transient astrophysics; accretion physics; compact objects; time-domain astronomy

(This special issue belongs to the Section Compact Objects)

Exploring the Dark Matter

edited by

Paolo Salucci

Eleonora Di Valentino

and Veronica Lora

submission deadline 28 Feb 2027 | 1 articles | Viewed by 838 | Submission Open

Keywords: dark matter; cosmological simulations of dark matter; scenarios for the dark matter; nature of the dark particle; detection of the dark particle; galaxy formation and highest z objects; galaxy kinematics and dynamics; Hubble tension and dark matter; super massive black holes

(This special issue belongs to the Section Cosmology)

Loop Quantum Gravity and Non-Perturbative Approaches to Quantum Cosmology, 3rd Edition

edited by

Gerald B. Cleaver

submission deadline 28 Feb 2027 | 1 articles | Viewed by 265 | Submission Open

Keywords: quantum gravity; non-perturbative approaches; Planck scale; supergravity; conflicts between gravity and quantum mechanics; unification of gravity and quantum mechanics

(This special issue belongs to the Section Cosmology)

Astroinformatics and Big Data in Astronomy

edited by

Haijun Tian

submission deadline 15 Mar 2027 | 3 articles | Viewed by 2754 | Submission Open

Keywords: astroinformatics; astronomical big data; machine and deep learning; artificial intelligence; data processing and visualization in astronomy; statistical inference; virtual observatory; scientific discovery

(This special issue belongs to the Section Astroinformatics and Astrostatistics)

Fast Radio Bursts in the Era of Multi-Messenger Astrophysics

edited by

Hai-Nan Lin

and

Yu Sang

submission deadline 15 Mar 2027 | 2 articles | Viewed by 1015 | Submission Open

Keywords: fast radio bursts; multi-messenger astronomy; radio transients; magnetars; neutron stars; high-energy astrophysics; radio astronomy; cosmology; intergalactic medium

(This special issue belongs to the Section Space Science)

Astrometry and Celestial Reference Frames: Advances from Catalogs, Quasar Surveys, and Earth’s Rotation Model

edited by

Jiacheng Liu

and Shilong Liao

submission deadline 31 Mar 2027 | 4 articles | Viewed by 1815 | Submission Open

Keywords: astrometry; reference frames; VLBI; extragalactic sources; catalogs; earth’s rotation; precession-nutation

(This special issue belongs to the Section Space Science)

General Relativity, Modified Theories of Gravity and Their Applications in Astrophysics

edited by

Xin Wu

and Wenbin Lin

submission deadline 30 Apr 2027 | 6 articles | Viewed by 7147 | Submission Open

Keywords: general relativity; modified theories of gravity; cosmology; post-Newtonian approximations; black hole physics; compact objects; numerical integration methods; chaotic dynamics; gravitational waves; planetary dynamics

(This special issue belongs to the Section Gravitation)

Ten Years of Gravitational-Wave Astronomy: From the First Detection of GW150914

edited by Jun Zhang

submission deadline 30 Apr 2027 | Viewed by 115 | Submission Open

Keywords: gravitational-wave astronomy; black holes; neutron stars; dark matter; gravitational-wave cosmology; tests of gravity theories

(This special issue belongs to the Section Gravitation)

Collectivity in High-Energy Proton–Proton and Heavy-Ion Collisions, 2nd Edition

edited by

Khusniddin K. Olimov

and

Fu-Hu Liu

submission deadline 15 Jul 2027 | Submission Open

Keywords: collective flow; chemical and kinetic freeze–out of particles; system equilibration and thermalization; strangeness enhancement; production and suppression of heavy resonances; jet production and quenching; QGP formation and evolution; non-extensive statistical distributions; high-energy proton–proton and heavy-ion collisions

(This special issue belongs to the Section High Energy Nuclear and Particle Physics)

Recent Advances in Gamma Ray Astrophysics and Future Perspectives, 2nd Edition

edited by

Patrizia Romano

submission deadline 31 Jul 2027 | Viewed by 111 | Submission Open

Keywords: gamma-ray astrophysics; gamma-ray binaries; gamma-ray bursts; supernovae remnants; active galactic nuclei; transients; gamma-ray instrumentation

(This special issue belongs to the Section Space Science)

Sixty Years of Pulsar Science—Advances and Future Prospects

edited by

Chengmin Zhang

David Blaschke

and

Jérôme Pétri

submission deadline 31 Oct 2027 | Viewed by 364 | Submission Open

Keywords: pulsar; neutron stars; magnetar; compact object; gravitational waves; fast radio burst; millisecond pulsar

(This special issue belongs to the Section Compact Objects)

Fuzzy Dark Matter Paradigm and Ultralight Axions

edited by

Ralf Hofmann

submission deadline 30 Nov 2027 | 1 articles | Viewed by 1414 | Submission Open

Keywords: fuzzy dark matter; ultralight axions; cold dark matter; Schrödinger–Poisson simulations

(This special issue belongs to the Section Cosmology)

Feature Papers in High-Energy Nuclear and Particle Physics 2026–2027

edited by

and

submission deadline 31 Dec 2027 | Viewed by 79 | Submission Open

Keywords: high-energy physics; particle physics; nuclear physics; heavy-ion collisions; quark–gluon plasma; quantum chromodynamics (QCD); hadron structure; neutrino physics; collider physics; astroparticle physics; dark matter; cosmological phase transitions; beyond the Standard Model; experimental particle physics; theoretical particle physics; data analysis and machine learning in high-energy physics

(This special issue belongs to the Section High Energy Nuclear and Particle Physics)

Emerging Radio Facilities and Transient Sky Science: New Instruments, Methods and Early Results

edited by

Yi Ren

and Rushuang Zhao

submission deadline 31 Dec 2027 | Viewed by 48 | Submission Open

Keywords: L-band radio interferometry; time-domain radio astronomy (pulsars, fast radio bursts); HI 21 cm; solar radio bursts and space weather; coronal and heliospheric activity; galactic interstellar medium; interferometric correlation and beamforming; RFI mitigation and data pipelines; radio candidates

(This special issue belongs to the Section Space Science)

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