The Galician Institute of High Energy Physics (Instituto Galego de Física de Altas Enerxías, IGFAE) is a joint research center of University of Santiago de Compostela and Xunta de Galicia (the Galician Autonomous Government), that it was officially created on July 2, 1999. Our main goal is to coordinate and foster the scientific and technical research in the field of High Energy Physics, Particle and Nuclear Physics and related areas as Astrophysics, Medical Physics, Instrumentation, etc. Of primary importance is the planning and promotion of the relation with large experimental facilities, especially with CERN, GSI/FAIR, Pierre Auger Observatory and LIGO at present. In 2016, the institute received a María de Maeztu award as Research Unit of Excellence. This a significant opportunity to boost the scientific performance of the Institute in the quest of some of the most fundamental questions in Physics. IGFAE integrates the Spanish ‘Severo Ochoa’ Centres and ‘María de Maeztu’ Units of Excellence, SOMMa.