Research in physics of the solid earth uses seismology, space geodesy, tectonics and numerical experiments to understand the following topics: mechanics of earthquakes and faulting, structure and rheology of the lithosphere in active earthquake and volcanic regions, physics of transient deformation, and active tectonics and earthquake hazard.

Research in solid-earth geophysics investigates the way earthquake faults develop in time and how the earth's interior deforms. It relies on geophysical methods blending space geodesy, seismology and tectonics, tied through realistic physical numerical modeling using High Performance Computing. This contributes to the physical understanding of the length and time scales of active deformation processes and to a more realistic assessment of the earthquake hazard.